Kicking Boxes
by Aehryn
Summary: Sasuke Uchiha hasn't fallen in love since he was sixteen years old. Now he is twenty-nine with two daughters. He finds himself head-over-heels when his neighbor, Ino Yamanaka, lends them a kickboxing tape starring Uzumaki Naruto. NaruSasu
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, here is Kicking Boxes. It is NOT done, I'm in major writer's block. So I wanted to see what everyone thought about it. PLUS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN CONTINUING THIS PM ME AND READ MY PROFILE, thanks.**

**Disclaimer: I do not OWN Naruto.**

**Kicking Boxes**

Sasuke Uchiha knew that something odd was going on in his house from the shrieks of giggle fits that erupted from behind his front door. He cautiously stepped through the doorway setting his business suitcase down on the floor. "I'm home." He called out.

The twenty-nine year old man heard the small padding of a dark brown haired child around the age of six running down the hall. "Daddy! Ino brought a tape over!" Small arms wrapped around the businessman's legs. "We are kicking boxes!" Sasuke kneeled down and lifted the girl into his arms.

"Where's Ino and Amaya, Kikue?" He asked as he set her back down on the firm carpeted ground of their living room.

"I _told_ you. We're in the basement kicking boxes!" Kikue emphasized as she gripped the much larger hands of her father and dragged him towards the door leading to the basement steps. "Come on dad! It gonna be over!" She squealed before charging hazardously down the stairs. Sasuke quickly followed after his daughter, he could hear a man counting down, panting as if he was doing some strenuous work out.

A tall long blonde haired woman wearing a pair of tight black shorts and a tank top was punching the air in time with the counting voice. Next to her was Sasuke's oldest daughter Amaya Uchiha, age thirteen, with her cherry pink hair swept back in a ponytail keeping up with her babysitter. _'Switch'_ the voice said loudly and they immediately switched the arms they were pumping out into punches.

Sasuke peeked around the two to see what they were doing and was startled by a blond haired man with startling blue eyes on the television set. "What are you three _doing?_" The curious father asked with his eyebrow raised, loosening his tie.

"Ino brought over a kickboxing tape today. Remember how I told you that Naruto Uzumaki is coming to our school?" Amaya explained.

Sasuke _did_ recall his daughter telling him this. Naruto Uzumaki was a well known kickboxing instructor. He was a running champion far before his kickboxing career. Konoha Junior High somehow found a way to convince this man to instruct kickboxing at their school all week. Students and their parents were invited. Naturally, Sasuke would have to go since he was the only parent they had.

Of course, Sasuke wasn't always a single parent. At age sixteen he started dating the pink haired cheerleader named Sakura Haruno. A year later, when Sasuke tried to break off the relationship he found out he was going to be a father. Feeling responsible, which he was, he decided to continue their relationship and shortly after high school got married to Sakura.

As if Sakura didn't learn her lesson the first time, when Amaya turned seven, she once again got pregnant with Kikue. Though this time, Sasuke was not the father. The father was a man named Neji Hyuuga, he was a very famous trauma surgeon. After discovering this, Sasuke filed for a divorce. Sakura refused custody over the girls as Hyuuga did not want children, and they were both sent over to Sasuke Uchiha who later adopted Kikue as his own.

"Well, this is him dad. You're coming with me next week right? Parents have to come." His daughter's voice was panting and sweat was dripping down her face. Sasuke had no idea why the girl would want to participate in such an embarrassing activity. He grunted and glared at Naruto Uzumaki in his shorter than normal shorts, his muscles rippling every time he punched the air.

"You should join us, Sasuke. Get prepared for the big day, I think Shikamaru and I will come out next week! How about it, Aya?" Ino suggested with a childish giggle. It amazed Sasuke how they could look so physically exhausted but were able to talk that much.

"What about me?!" Kikue shrieked with her hands on her hips.

"You'll go too don't worry. How about we go make some dinner now?" Sasuke asked and raised the small child over his shoulders proceeding up the stairs. He plopped the brown haired girl on the couch of the living room and turned the kid's network on the television. Relieving himself of his tie and business jacket he huffed and threw them over the arm of the sofa. "Hm, how about some spaghetti?" Sasuke suggested. Kikue squealed in delight, clapping her hands and nodding vigorously.

Moving into the kitchen he set out a pot on the stove, filling it with water and turned the stove on. He could faintly hear Uzumaki's voice ordering for a cool down, announcing that the tape was almost over. Kikue was shrieking with laughter at the television, Sasuke inwardly smiled. Getting tired of waiting impatiently for the water to start to boil he went over to his youngest daughter and lifted her up into his arms before settling back down on the sofa. The soft singing coming from the television and the rhythmic breathing of his daughter put him fast to sleep.

The short nap that Sasuke had, he had a dream…no a nightmare. He had constant nightmares about his daughters being lost, though Sasuke was only a few feet away from them they seemed not to notice. He never forgot sound of terror from their screams, no matter how loud he screamed back they never turned around. "Sasuke? Wake up!"

Just like that the nightmare was over and light flooded his vision. As he took in his surroundings he noticed the sweat pouring down his face. "Sasuke the water is boiling over, you might want to take care of that." Ino's voice called out, by the time Sasuke got off the sofa Ino already had her coat on and was at the door. "Bye guys! I'll see you tomorrow!" She called before leaving.

"Daddy? Foam is in the pot!" A squeal came from behind Sasuke. The father quickly shot up and ran to the stove turning the temperature down. He dumped the spaghetti from the box into the pan. "Oooh, gimme!" Kikue giggled as she watched the thin long noodles being dropped into the pot.

"You're not going to like them, Kikue. They're dry." Sasuke sighed as he took the last strand of dry uncooked spaghetti and handed it over to the brunette. As expected, as soon as the child bit the noodle it was spat out on the ground in disgust. Kikue scrunched up her nose at Sasuke as if asking him why he gave her it.

"Dad!" A different voice this time screamed as thudding came from the stairs. "Can I go over to Kimimaro's house tomorrow?" Amaya asked, entering the kitchen.

"Isn't that the boy a year older than you?" Sasuke asked, handing Kikue some silverware to place at the table. Amaya nodded and took some plates from a cupboard above the sink. "Aya, you've asked this before and the answer won't change. No you can not go over alone to a boy's house, especially someone who lives with Orochimaru."

"Why _not?_" Amaya stomped her foot childishly and slammed down the last plate. Kikue stopped and watched the scene unfold curiously. "I'm thirteen years old, he's only one year ahead of me. We're not going to _do_ anything."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, "I don't care. I don't want you around Orochimaru or any boy alone. Just invite him over here tomorrow. I'm off work since it's the weekend." Sasuke was a professional at this, and he should be since the girl asked this question often which always led to the same thing, he left no room for more input. Amaya stomped her foot to show her frustration and stomped her way up to her room. Sasuke sighed as he began to cook the sauce for their dinner.

"Daddy! Can I watch TV?" Kikue asked eagerly, Sasuke knew that she wanted to watch the new show that premiered a couple weeks ago where families entered to compete in obstacle courses. He never understood the reason people would want to go on that show, other than to prove how bratty and spoiled their kids were. So, as soon as Sasuke gave his daughter the permission, Kikue hurried off back into the living room.

"Kikue, go tell your sister that dinner is ready, please." Sasuke peered into the living room a few minutes later. Kikue jumped up and ran out of his view and up the stairs, screaming for her sister.

The Uchiha family was halfway through their dinner when Kikue's face lit up. The rest of the family knew what it meant; the youngest child had an idea. "Daddy! Let's be on TV! We could win!" She squealed, spaghetti sauce dripping down her chin.

Sasuke grimaced at the thought of going on the show, and slightly at the sauce dripping down the brunette's face. He grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped off Kikue's chin while trying to come up with a valid reason for the girl as to why they can't go on TV. "Kikue, we can't this year." He said the only lame excuse he could think of. Actually, as he thought about it, it wasn't an excuse at all.

"Why not?!" Kikue shrieked, pouting at her father.

"We just can't." Sasuke said stubbornly. Kikue jumped up from the table and ran up to her room, Sasuke sighed and looked over to Amaya. He wasn't surprised that she got up from the table and looked at him with disgust before leaving her dirty plate on the table and leaving the room also. Today was definitely not a good day for Uchiha Sasuke.

It wasn't until after Kikue and Amaya went to bed when Sasuke found a way to make it up to his kids, at least Kikue that is. He set the alarm on extra early to get ready before heading to bed.

"Kikue, Aya, wake up! I have a surprise for you two!" Sasuke shouted down the hall. Kikue came running out of her room and plowed right into her father's arms, obviously no longer upset. "Good morning, Kikue. Go get dressed, I have cereal out for you two downstairs and then you can see your surprise." Sasuke rushed the little girl to her room before going into Aya's room.

"Aya, time to wake up! I have a surprise for you and Kikue." Sasuke said calmly, trying not to startle the girl.

The girl just grumbled and sat up in bed groggily. She nodded with a yawn, "Okay, I'll be down." Sasuke left his oldest daughter to get ready and went downstairs to see Kikue.

When the father came into the kitchen he was greeted with an impatient Kikue sitting in her chair. She was dressed in a pink pair of shorts with an obviously not matching green shirt on backwards. "Kikue, you have your shirt on backwards." The girl looked down to confirm this but just shrugged. Sasuke sighed softly and lifted the shirt over the girl's head before putting it back on the right way this time.

"When's the surprise?!" Kikue shrieked, kicking her feet excitedly.

"As soon as you and your sister eat breakfast you can see." Sasuke explained while filling her cereal bowl up with milk.

Sasuke could still tell that Amaya was still upset when she came down and ate breakfast. He knew that she wouldn't feel better at least until they go to the kickboxing program. They were soon done with breakfast and Kikue was practically jumping up and down while begging for the surprise.

"Alright alright, follow me." Sasuke said and led them to their family room, though something was very different about it. There were no cushions on the couch; instead they led a path to the back door on the floor. "We are going to have our own obstacle course." Kikue shrieked in delight and giggled before jumping up and down. "First you'll have to jump on the cushions and make your way outside, but you can't fall off! Then when you're outside on the patio, you have to hula hoop ten times. When you're done with that you'll have to jump from lawn chair to lawn chair with a cup of water. Then you'll run to the swing set and swing five times before racing back to the lawn chairs you jumped from and sit in one to win."

Amaya looked half-hearted about the whole thing, it was extremely childish but Sasuke gave her a look that told her to do it for her sister. He brought out his camera to make it seem more like the show Kikue wanted to be on and when he was at a safe distance he signaled 'go' and they were off.

Kikue stumbled through the cushions, giggling the whole way while Amaya was right behind. Sasuke followed the two outside, Kikue was a master at the hula hoop, and it was one of her favorite things to do, so naturally she was the first one done. Next was one of the trickier parts, the lawn chairs were only spaced one to two feet apart so it wasn't very dangerous, but the trick was not to spill the water. Kikue was too busy giggling to realize all her water practically spilled out and Amaya passed her before sticking her tongue teasingly to her younger sister. "No fair!" the youngest girl screeched and ran to the swings.

Kikue ended up winning anyways, as expected. "How was that?" Sasuke asked as he brought glasses of water out to the two girls now relaxing in the lawn chairs.

"That was awesome!" Kikue squealed excitedly, gulping down her water. Sasuke was going to reply but he was interrupted by a faint ding from their doorbell inside. Immediately, Kikue jumped up and dashed for the house but Sasuke quickly caught up with her and scooped her into his arms.

Behind the door was a very tall young woman with long brown hair yet familiar bright blue eyes. She was wearing a short egg yellow skirt with a white blouse. All-in-all, she looked pretty out of place in their suburban neighborhood. "Hello mister!" To much of Sasuke's dismay, Kikue was the one who greeted the woman.

Immediately the mysterious brunette's face flushed red in embarrassment and scratched the back of her head. "I'm so sorry ma'am. Kikue, please go back inside." Sasuke apologized and set his daughter back down in the house and nudged her along till she was out of sight. "She's only six, I'm sorry."

The brunette flashed him a smile, her face still red and he could tell there was sweat forming on her forehead. "No, its okay I understand. You never know what children are going to say." Her hands creased the skirt as if she didn't know what to do. "Oh, my name is Hana."

"Oh, uh I'm Sasuke Uchiha. Nice to meet you, but is there anything I can help you with?" Sasuke asked confusedly. Realizing how awkward she made it, the woman's face flushed again.

"Uhm, I was wondering if you could give me directions to this hotel I need help finding. It's called Paradise Hotel." Hana shifted from side to side nervously.

"Sure, come inside and I'll write it down for you." Sasuke said and led the woman in his house. He pulled out a seat for her at the kitchen table before pulling out a pen and a piece of paper. The man was in the middle of a polite conversation and writing down the directions when he heard a scream coming from his oldest daughter. "Excuse me," Sasuke said in a hurry and rushed up the stairs where the noise was coming from.

It was from Amaya's room where Kikue stood shocked and Amaya ranting. "I hate _you!_" Suddenly Sasuke's vision got blurry and he looked around warily trying to find the cause. He blacked out within a second and was sprawled on the floor.

_A younger Sasuke Uchiha at the age of seventeen in a fancy suit was walking down the street of the city. It was the bad part of town, crimes were committed there everyday though he was sure to find the one person he's been looking for. He got to an out of place shack at the end of the street, there was a tragic fire there and ever since it's been left there to rot._

_The windows were punched out and there were rats and all sorts of pests inhabiting it. It was also Sasuke's destination. There was a small table with surrounding crates; he assumed this was the meeting place of a gang called Akatsuki. He took a seat and waited, he wasn't sure how long he waited but he knew it had to be at least three hours._

_The door creaked and immediately Sasuke stood up. In came a taller muscular man that could very well be mistaken with Sasuke, if the younger would grow a bit more. "Itachi," Sasuke whispered. Immediately Itachi turned around and opened the door to get out but he was stopped by a stern hand on his wrist. "Sit down. We have to talk."_

_Itachi sighed and followed his younger brother's orders. "To what do I owe this pleasure of seeing you here?" Itachi asked as if he was curious yet sarcastic. "How long has it been? Nine years? What a 'welcome back to the city', thank you."_

"_I'm not 'welcoming' you. I'm here to ask you: why did you kill them?" Sasuke replied. Itachi withdrew a deep breath and stared for a minute, obviously debating on answering._

_The older of the two folded his hands in his lap as if this was nothing but a business meeting, "I think the real question is would you rather have lived with those bastards who kept you practically in a prison? Who can decide whether or not what I did was wrong? I'm sure you're happier now, they never loved you." Itachi smiled calmly which only fueled Sasuke's anger._

"_How dare you. If you think you're right, then why are you running away?" Sasuke clenched his hands by his sides. There were so many questions forming in his mind that he couldn't think of ways to ask them without hurting his pride and dignity. The real question he wanted to know is whether the Itachi he knew when he was eight years old was real. If those days that he rode on his older brother's back was an act or if the days at the playground were just a sham, that's what he really wanted to know. Part of him didn't want to know, he didn't want to find out that those times were just to make him believe his older brother wasn't a killer or a traitor._

_Itachi smirked and chuckled, "Just because I'm right doesn't mean the authorities will think so. I did the right thing killing them. Or do you believe in that 'everybody deserves to live' shit. Come on, you know as much as I do that not even the parents that raised us believed in that. Deep inside, you even know that all the Uchihas are nothing more than conniving, backstabbing, conceited bastards." Suddenly something stirred in Sasuke, he felt almost sick as if he was about to vomit._

_Out of nowhere Itachi started to laugh, almost insanely. Sasuke began to feel uneasy, his hands twitching over his cell phone in his pocket. "Our parents would be rolling around in their graves to know that their chances of obtaining an Uchiha heir were cast away into oblivion." The cocky smirk still remained on the older brother's lips._

"_What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke asked furiously, he was on the verge of punching his brother in the face._

_Itachi's laughter just grew at the outburst, "You know. Sasuke Uchiha, isn't interested in women from what I hear. You had a terrible time with it in middle school."_

"_Apparently, you haven't been 'watching' me very closely. There _is_ an Uchiha heir on the way right now, it's due in five months." It was Sasuke's turn to smirk. Itachi's plan was foiled and he watched as it came crashing down._

_Itachi's face was anything but cocky now, he tried to register the fact that there was now going to be another Uchiha. "Well, that can be taken care of. You've betrayed me in every way possible, Sasuke. You _will_ be punished."_

_Sasuke's smirk did not fade at the threat instead he actually laughed, unable to conceal his mirth. There was a noise of sirens in the background; he could see his older brother getting restless. "Quite the opposite, really, while you were busy laughing about our family's death you missed when I dialed 911 on my cell phone. Those sirens aren't for some burglar down the street. It's for you."_

_As expected, Itachi jumped up and ran out the door only to be greeted by a full police squad all with their guns pointed directly at the oldest Uchiha. Sasuke stood out of the house and watched from afar as his brother was taken to the cop car. There was a last moment when Itachi stopped and looked at his brother, for a second he could see the brother Itachi used to be but then it changed back to the murderer that he truly was. He screamed, "You're not my brother, Sasuke!"_

_Sasuke stared coolly at his older brother who has so many times before deceived him. He shook his head nonchalantly, "You're right, I'm an Uchiha."_

When Sasuke came to, his eyes came into contact with the long brown hair of Hana. "Uhm, Sasuke? Are you alright? You just fainted."

Sasuke rubbed his face, he felt sick just at the thought of that memory and now he just had it in full form. He spent years forgetting everything, forgetting that he _had _a brother. He looked around the room past Hana and saw Amaya sitting on the floor with her arm around her crying little sister. For an instant, he wondered if he'd miss them as much as they'd miss him but he instantly berated himself on such a thought, of course he would. This only made the sickness swell even more.

"I'm alright. I didn't eat all day so that must be it. I'm sorry for troubling you, Hana." Sasuke assured the woman before walking over to Kikue and wiping the tears off her face. "Kikue, I'm alright you can stop crying. Amaya didn't mean what she said either." He pushed the hair back from her eyes and scooped the small girl into his arms.

"Uhm, I should go." Hana hesitantly said as she looked down to her feet.

Sasuke turned to the woman and nodded, "Oh, I'm sorry for the trouble." He apologized thoroughly and led her to the front door after handing her the written directions. "Good luck finding your hotel."

The weekend went by fast and before Sasuke knew it, Monday came and that meant kickboxing. The Uchiha household was in a hurry to get ready, the program started at seven o'clock and it was already six-thirty. He helped Kikue into her shorts and a t-shirt before grabbing the cooler bag that held water bottles for each of them. "Aya, are you ready?! We have to leave!" He yelled down the hall to the eldest daughter's room.

Aya came into the kitchen where Sasuke and Kikue were waiting, she was dressed in green gym shorts and a light pink t-shirt with her dark pink hair tied back in a pony-tail. "You took _forever_!" Kikue groaned, their father rushed them out the door and into their car before buckling himself in.

Surprisingly there weren't that many people there. They pulled into the parking lot at almost the same time as Shikamaru and Ino. "Ino!" Amaya called out and ran up to the babysitter giving her a hug.

The group walked into the gym of the Junior High, there were parents and children everywhere. They were all gathered near the front where Naruto Uzumaki, their instructor, stood. Somehow Sasuke caught the blond's eye, immediately the kick-boxer's face flushed in embarrassment for some unknown reason and looked away.

That wasn't the only time that their eyes made contact. Throughout the whole hour the blond cast glances towards the Uchiha. Sasuke became annoyed by this occurrence and suddenly sent an angry glare towards the blond.

Afterwards when the family was sweaty, much to Sasuke's disgust, Ino squealed and hugged the two girls going on a rant about how cute Naruto was. Sasuke and Shikamaru rolled their eyes. Shikamaru, obviously getting too annoyed by his fiancée, excused himself to go to the bathroom. Sasuke heard the squealing grow louder and when he turned to see what was the cause he came face-to-face with Naruto Uzumaki.

"Hey, did you guys have fun?" Uzumaki asked with a cheesy grin on his face. Sasuke fought back a scowl that was threatening to form across his face at the sweat pouring down the muscular man's body. However, Ino seemed not to mind the sweatiness as she blushed and nodded her head vigorously.

The blond kneeled down to Sasuke's two daughters' height, asking their names. Amaya blushed and scratched the back of her hair shyly before offering her name in a barely audible whisper. Kikue grinned back up at the blond and in a boisterous voice squealed her name before taking her father's hand in her smaller one.

Naruto put out his hand, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you." Sasuke eyed the hand suspiciously before grasping it in a hand shake. "Haha, don't worry my hands are clean." The blond obviously noticed the look on the man's face.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke replied curtly.

Ino glared at the brooding man and thumped him on the back, "Sasuke, show more respect to him! It wouldn't hurt you to be polite once in a while." She then turned to the instructor and smiled cheerily before shaking his hand.

"So, you must be Mrs. Uchiha then?" Naruto asked curiously.

Kikue then cut in before either adult could say anything, "Daddy doesn't like girls!" Ino shrieked at the blatant answer of the little girl. She expected the Uchiha to deny this or…at least something, but the man just stood there and refused to say anything. Ino could have died when the grin on Naruto's face widened cheekily followed by a wink to the father and said, "Me neither."

All of a sudden the grin left Naruto's face and he yelled out, "Shikamaru?!" The yell left the group in shock wondering how the blond knew their lazy friend. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?! What are you _doing _here?"

Shikamaru shrugged lazily before slipping his hands in his pockets, "I came with Ino, my fiancée." By this time, Ino's mouth was gaping wide open in disbelief. Shikamaru noticed the expression and immediately began to explain before his wife exploded on him. "I knew Naruto when I went to high school."

"You could have said we were friends," Naruto whined. Shikamaru merely rolled his eyes at his childish friend.

"Shikamaru, why have you never mentioned this?" Ino shrieked at her fiancé, Naruto stepped back from the intimidating woman.

"It didn't seem important," Shikamaru sighed which caused another whine from Naruto.

"Anyways, we should all go out to eat!" Naruto suggested while bouncing on the balls of his feet energetically. Kikue giggled and jumped up and down, obviously thinking this was a good idea.

"Dobe, we're all sweaty and gross. Not to mention it's eight o'clock at night." Sasuke scowled with a hand on his hip. All he really wanted was to simply go kickboxing to make his daughters happy and get back home, and now the blond tried to complicate his whole plan.

Naruto mocked the father's stance, "Well, fine then grump. I guess I'll just get back home now. I'll see you later, Shikamaru. Nice to meet you guys!" Naruto smiled before turning to leave.

Ino glared at Sasuke before stopping Naruto. "Hey, I know a restaurant that is open late. Let's just meet there at nine so that we have time to shower. We just need to be home before ten so Kikue and Aya can get to bed." Sasuke's two daughters cheered excitedly.

**A/N: Depending on if I get someone interested, or if I suddenly think of a way to continue this, I (or someone else) will finish it turning it into a two-shot. I hope you've enjoyed it so far!**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello! First off: I'm really sorry about the…well, long wait. I had a MAJOR writer's block, plus my current story Running from Mars is almost done so that has been my priority, just one more chapter to go and this story will have my full attention. Anyways, well I'm EXTREMELY happy with the feedback I got on this, I'm extremely thankful. After continuing the story a little I found I couldn't part with it haha. I worked so hard on it, and sadly this story which isn't THAT good took me about a year and a half to even get halfway done. Yet there are fanfiction writers here who update every week, I could never.

Yeah, I discovered that it's way TOO long of a story to just keep it as a two-shot. I'm sorry everyone, but you'll know what I mean when I said it'll be way too complicated and take so much longer if I don't split it up into chapters.

Okay, now I'm done ranting so let's get on to something more important!

**REVIEWERS!: **_Okay so I originally planned to reply to all my reviewers, because I usually do. But if I did that it would take up like a page and a half (this in no way expresses how many reviews I got, it just shows how much I banter and like to respond and explain myself to the people who make an effort to critique and support my story!). I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea to take up more space for random stuff (even though replies to reviewers, I find, is very important). So if you as the reviewers have __**any suggestions**__ on how to get these responses to you go ahead and suggest away. I was thinking about just PMing everyone, but some people could think that as annoying haha. I'm a freak so I saved the responses so when I get to show them to you guys. So instead, I'll list all my reviewers on this page!_

**This chapter is dedicated to my reviewers: jedimasterkelso, laura, By-TheEnd-Of-TheDay, Halskr, blugirlami21, fowl68, Yo., South-West 3000, Wilfred Humbug, dayday1223, Uzumaki-Uchiha-Inuzuka, moopad, darkness-disguised05, Snowdog367, proud-yaoi-fangirl, noname00, The Shonen-Ai and Yaoi Goddess, spiralgal, Cheetah192119, moocow33, RetickLover, sasodei-iz-awesome, KruZnik013. **Thank you guys! Seriously, all the reviews helped me so much with things like Sasuke's attitude, I've really kept what you said in mind and tried my best to use what you suggested.

ON WITH THE STORY!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. This story has no relation to any real events or people, the whole thing is fictitious. In case you were worried…Haha.

**Warning: **Mentions of violence, mentions of rape, and some language. If you have a problem or want me to up the rating, let me know.

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Kicking Boxes

Chapter 2

It was ten-thirty at night and Sasuke settled down on the couch to relax for a moment before going to bed. Going out to dinner ended better than he thought it would, despite the annoyance of the celebrity. He was all relaxed and calmed when the phone rang. The Uchiha cursed under his breath before quickly picking up the phone, "Hello?"

Sasuke barely stopped talking before he noticed the sobbing coming through the speaker. He was very close to hanging up the phone before a hesitant voice called out, "_Sasuke…_" The said man nearly gasped at the familiar voice.

"Sakura? Why are you calling here?" Sasuke asked hesitantly, the last thing he wanted to do was have a conversation with this woman. However, at the same time he was curious to wonder why she was calling, she _never_ communicated with him or her daughters.

"_N-neji kicked me out_." Sakura sobbed into the phone.

Sasuke snorted coldly, "Is your life _my_ problem anymore, Sakura? Why call me?"

There was a pause on the other end before a voice gasped out, "I need _help._" Her voice was desperate which made the Uchiha cave in.

"Fine, come over here. You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you near them, though." It was understood who he meant by _them_ and he immediately hung up afterwards and dialed the number for Ino and Shikamaru.

It was Shikamaru who answered with a curious, "_Hello?_"

"Hey, this is Sasuke."

"_Oh, what are you doing calling at this time of the night_?"

Sasuke heaved a sigh into the phone and pinched the bridge of his nose with the fingers of his free hand. "Sakura called a moment ago. I need a favor, she's coming over and I was wondering if you can let her sleep at your house for the night."

"_Uh, let me run that by Ino real quick…_" The phone was set on a table leaving Sasuke waiting. Two minutes later the phone picked up again, "_Uh, sure. I just hope she doesn't argue with Ino like she used to…"_

Sasuke groaned and rubbed his tired eyes, "Yeah, look I'm sorry. She should be over soon, I'll see you tomorrow." Sasuke hung up the phone after Shikamaru's goodbyes and looked out the door to see Sakura's light blue car parked out front of his house.

The pink haired woman stepped out of the car, the first thing Sasuke noticed as she walked up the driveway was the limp in her steps. He turned the outside lights on before stepping outside onto the porch. When Sakura came into view he noticed the bruises that ran along her cheek and one just beginning to form on the peak of her forehead. The woman had no shoes on and wore a pair of jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt.

The state of the woman made Sasuke unsure of what to say, but it was she who spoke first in a calm yet shaky voice. "I'm sorry…" She stared at her feet abashedly. He just shook his head and guided her silently to Ino's house.

"Shikamaru and Ino are going to let you stay at their house for a little while. Try to get along with Ino, for Shikamaru's sake." Sasuke grunted the whole situation made him uncomfortable. Sakura smiled weakly and nodded. "I have work tomorrow, but afterwards we'll talk."

Sasuke was finally able to get to bed after he left Sakura in the hands of Ino. The comfort of his bed never felt so welcoming after such a day. However, he knew that tomorrow would be just as unpleasant. He woke to the ringing of his alarm clock, any other day he would be right out of bed and getting ready for work but that day he was hesitant to even get out of bed. If he didn't have the duties and responsibilities of being a father he probably would have just laid in bed all morning.

Ino was welcomed into the house by Aya as Sasuke hurried to prepare for work. There was no mentioning of the fact that Sakura was staying at Ino's in front of Sasuke's children. He said his goodbyes and kissed both of his girls on the forehead before quickly leaving to work.

Sasuke worked as an accountant at a major company, along with his neighbor Shikamaru Nara. It was a rather dull job, but it paid the bills as one would say. He hung his coat up on the back of his chair before taking his desk which faced Shikamaru's. The two exchanged greetings before Shikamaru brought up the subject of Sakura.

"Sakura seems to be in a pretty bad state…I can't believe she's still with that jerk." Shikamaru said idly as he went through papers that were stacked on his desk.

Sasuke seemed to only get grumpier at the mention of the woman, "Yeah, I just don't understand why she had to come here." Shikamaru just snorted and rolled his eyes at the man, as if it was obvious. He just glared at the bored looking man, "Whatever, you can toss her on the streets for all I care." At this, Shikamaru laughed knowing that he did not mean that at all.

It was only halfway through the day and Sasuke couldn't help but feel claustrophobic as he sat at his cramped desk. Surely the size of his desk would collapse from the amount of burdens and work he had today. Shikamaru and Chouji had left to the break room for their lunch, but Sasuke was pretty sure that he would be working straight through lunch. However, that was before an unexpected visitor arrived.

"Hey, Sasuke!" A bright and cheery voice, that only the Uchiha could find annoying and obnoxious, pronounced in his ear. When the Uchiha man looked behind him with a deadly scowl on his face, the blond just promptly sat himself on top of the desk with his feet dangling off the end.

Sasuke closed his eyes for a brief second trying to contain his anger before replying coolly, "Is there a reason you're currently sitting on my desk, Uzumaki?"

Naruto smiled fully and shifted his weight after pulling a, now crumpled, paper from underneath him. "Of course, Shika told me you would be here!"

"Oh, thank God for that," Sasuke snorted sarcastically while grabbing the paper from the obnoxious man's hand.

Naruto only went on ignoring the sarcasm, "Anyways, I was wondering if you would like to go out for lunch?" To any fan of Naruto's, along with the said man's, surprise, Sasuke's eye twitched at the prospect of even considering going with such a man and would have to decline such an offer.

"I apologize if I led you into the pretense of even thinking that I would like to see your face more than I had last night," He said in mock politeness with his stoic voice. He then went back to his work while completely ignoring the other's presence.

A hand covered the much paler man's in a successful effort to stop the brooding Uchiha from work. "Oh come on, Sasuke, you have thirty minutes and we have enough time to go to Ichiraku for some ramen." Sasuke just raised an eyebrow silently asking how that would make it more appealing. Naruto slid off the work desk and moved in front of him, "I, Naruto Uzumaki, will even treat you."

Sasuke heaved a sigh before neatly stacking his papers on the desk and growled out a, "Fine let's go." Naruto grinned cheekily and led the way to his fancy sleek black car. Sasuke stood there with an uneasy scowl across his face. "Oh _please_, Sasuke, you're the _only_ person I'll ever know that has a problem showing up in a car like this."

With a click of the tongue the said man retorted, "What kind of town do you think this is, moron? The only thing you'll do is show off how much of a conceited celebrity you are. Therefore, I refuse to show up anywhere with you in such a luxurious vehicle. Not to mention that you don't actually _know _me." Naruto just kept the 'all-knowing' grin on his face and shrugged.

"Fine, we can go in your car. I don't understand you." Naruto followed Sasuke to his much more modest car. Sasuke felt a certain regret at not accepting the ride from the obnoxious blond, for being in control of the wheel left him unable to protect himself from the relentless banter of the celebrity. He practically gasped in relief when they got to the ramen stand.

"How come you're so tense?" Naruto asked good-naturedly as they waited for their ramen to be served.

"Why must you be so concerned with me?" Sasuke grunted, trying to look at anything but the blond at that moment, but when he did catch sight of Naruto his face was pulled into his thoughts as if really pondering over that simple question.

"Because you're the only one who isn't daunted by me…I guess." He replied with a nervous laugh. "I mean, I have a lot of fans y'know, but people look at me and see how much money I have or how many times I've been on national television."

"If you're trying to brag, you are failing quite miserably."

Naruto snorted out a laugh, "No way, quite the opposite. I'm so envious of what you have, it hurts." His face contorted into something familiar to Sasuke, an expression of painful wishing and loss. "I saw your family yesterday, you're so lucky."

Suddenly Sasuke felt sick, Naruto's expression brought back pained memories of his mother. His mother standing by the door anxiously waiting for him to get off the school bus, his mother serving dinner, his mother perched at the side of his bed with a book, his mother lying lifeless on the floor at the feet of his brother.

Naruto shook his melancholy expression off and smiled nonchalantly towards the other, "Do you have any siblings, Sasuke?"

"No, I don't."

"Really? Me neither, sadly, I always wanted a close family with lots of siblings."

Sasuke didn't really reply, but Naruto didn't know if he had expected an answer. In some way it was depressing that the man sitting next to him was as socially inadequate and awkward as he was. Sensing some past horror caused the social barrier, he tried to make easy conversation. "So, how old are your daughters?"

"Kikue is seven and Amaya is thirteen. Kikue is the one that pronounced my sexual orientation in front of everyone." Sasuke said, but his voice was much smoother and less aggressive which caused relief for Naruto.

Naruto chuckled and smiled brightly, "Ah, yes. She seems like a really sweet girl, though." They were interrupted by the stand owner passing them each a bowl of steaming ramen. Sasuke slowly began to feed himself the noodles, but Naruto ate like he was a tornado which of course annoyed the other greatly.

"Can't you eat like a human being?" Sasuke asked with his forehead twitching as he tried to contain his irritation.

"Geez, I'm sorry I don't like to starve myself. I mean, look at _you_."

"Please, do tell me what is wrong with how _I_ eat."

"You don't even eat, that's why you're extremely skinny!" Naruto proclaimed with a sharp jab to the side of Sasuke's stomach.

"I am _not_ skinny-" Sasuke was just about to send his fist at the blond's face before he was interrupted by a young woman's pleasant laugh.

"Oh, I'm sorry it's just…You two are a very argumentative couple." The comment caused a cheeky grin from Naruto and a displeased scowl on Sasuke's face.

"Since when has it been a social norm to assume two _men_ are a couple?" Sasuke growled at the girl, who immediately blushed and backed off. Naruto gave Sasuke a disgusted look 'I can't believe you just said that'. The Uchiha smirked and raised an eyebrow, "What, Naruto? Are you disappointed that I didn't blush profusely and swoon over you like everyone else?" He left the blond gape at the insult as he walked towards his car.

Naruto quickly slapped the money on the counter after he gave his thanks to the waitress. "You jerk!" He huffed as he climbed in the passenger side of the car. He sat in his seat, pouting with his arms crossed. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and strapped himself in before speeding off in his car. "Why can't you just accept it, Uchiha?"

Sasuke snorted before rolling his eyes and giving the blond a glance, "If you're asking me to accept how idiotic and childish you are, that's just not something I can do."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke's hands as if to make sure they weren't going to fly around his neck. Then he intruded the man's personal space, placing his nose right at the Uchiha's hairline so his breath tantalized his ear, "No…You can't accept the fact that you are hopelessly attracted to me." His voice was no more than a murmur and he had to quickly back off so as not to receive a punch in the face.

The hands gripping the steering wheel tightened so as not to cause physical harm to the celebrity. Sasuke gritted his teeth trying to control his annoyance, "You are the very last person I would be attracted to."

They quickly, to Sasuke's relief, got to his office building where the two got out of the car. "Well, either way, you don't have a choice since you have to come to school tonight." Naruto smiled mischievously.

"Keep dreaming, moron. I have somewhere to be tonight so Ino and Shikamaru will be taking Aya and Kikue." Sasuke smirked with a hand on his hip.

Naruto pouted childishly, "Fine, _bastard_. You can't avoid me forever, though." His eyes lit up in a smile before he got in his car and drove off.

Sasuke only had five minutes left of his break when he got to his desk and Chouji and Shikamaru were already working again. "Have fun?" Shikamaru asked. The Uchiha merely grunted and gave the lazy brunet a glare.

By the end of the day Sasuke was completely fatigued from the amount of work he had and it didn't help him that he had to look forward to a very draining conversation with Sakura. He was glad when he reached the safety of his home. He walked through the door and was greeted right away by an eager Kikue with her arms spread out. The father dropped his suitcase at his feet before scooping his daughter into his arms with a kiss to the forehead, "How was your day, Kikue?"

His daughter's face burst into a cheery grin, "Gooood! Nana brought in her dog today! I want one!" Sasuke walked down the hall into the kitchen where Amaya sat doing her homework, he set Kikue down.

"Hm, I'll think about it." Sasuke replied. He peered over his oldest daughter's head down at her homework, it was math. "You did your last problem wrong, Aya," He chided as he walked over to the cabinets to prepare a glass of water for himself.

"Wow, hello to you too, dad," Amaya groaned without looking up. "Ino said you're not going kickboxing tonight, why not?" She asked curiously.

"I'm up to my knees in paperwork, plus I'm meeting a coworker for dinner." Sasuke sighed as he placed a separate glass of water into Kikue's hands and motioned her to the living room where Ino awaited. "Kikue's having Nana over on Saturday if you wanted to invite that boy over," He suggested in hopes of getting the girl out of his hair about the whole Kimimaro situation.

This lifted Aya's mood considerably, "Thanks, dad!" She squealed excitedly and left her homework lying on the table for the phone, as Sasuke correctly guessed, to call the said boy.

"Don't forget to clean your stuff off the table before you leave!" Sasuke shouted after the excited teen. He rubbed his tired eyes, pulled his tie loose, and tore his jacket off and laid it on the back of his chair. He huffed as he collapsed into the loveseat beside Kikue who instantly nestled herself against him. "Ino, if you want you can go home for a little bit. Sorry you have to be over here so often."

A small smile appeared on Ino's face, "I don't mind, you have wonderful girls. Well, I'll come back at quarter of seven then. Seeya!" She called cheerily before leaving to her own home.

The living room entered a deep silence as Sasuke let himself shut his eyes for a couple minutes. He was prodded awake by Kikue half an hour later, "Daddy, I'm hungry!" Sasuke rubbed his eyes trying to get them to focus.

"Oh. I'll make us sandwiches if you go get Aya and tell her to come downstairs." Sasuke suggested and within seconds Kikue was running upstairs to find her older sister.

By the time the girls got back downstairs the sandwiches were already at their seats and Sasuke was filling up glasses of water. "What took you two so long?" He asked curiously as they sat down to eat.

"Oh, we were just getting our clothes out for tonight," Amaya answered with a care-free shrug of the shoulders.

Their dinner conversation consisted of Kikue and Amaya excitedly debating on what 'fun' things they would do at kickboxing. By the time both girls were done it was twenty minutes after six and Sasuke rushed them upstairs to get ready. He quickly put the dishes in the sink making a mental note to get to them later.

Ino and Shikamaru came to pick them up promptly and led the girls into the back seat of their car. "Good luck, Sasuke! Don't worry; they'll be back before nine o'clock!" Ino called before Shikamaru pulled out of the driveway and down the road.

Sasuke went upstairs in search of something less formal than his suit to wear. He settled for a nice pair of jeans and a button down shirt. Only bothering with just a quick comb through his hair he made his way to Shikamaru's house and knocked. The petite pink haired woman opened the door hesitantly. "Good evening," She offered and he returned the greeting.

The ex-wife was dressed in khaki pants and a pale green blouse, comfortable looking ballet flats on her feet. He could see the blue tint of bruises hidden by make up along her forehead and cheek, and his eyes noticeably hardened. "I was thinking we should go to the coffee shop for something to drink." Sasuke nodded and led her to his car.

They got a small table in the corner of the coffee shop after Sakura ordered a small cup of coffee. She smoothed back her frizzing pink hair behind her ears, "I'm sorry for all this. I've caused so much trouble for you guys."

Sasuke just waved off the apology in hopes of just getting to the point. "Why did you come back here Sakura? I know it's not to see your daughters."

The coffee shop seemed incredibly small to the woman after that remark. She nervously scratched the side of her cheek, leaving a small red streak. "You say it as if I don't care for my girls at all_. _I really do love them." Her voice wavered at the end of the sentence.

Sasuke shrugged and raised an eyebrow, "Well, I guess _that_ explains why you left them for some jerk that mistreats you." His voice was steely and cold, leaving a frown on Sakura's face.

The air around them got very tense, Sakura's forehead creasing and suddenly she looked much older than in her late 20s. "I don't expect you to understa-" She was abruptly interrupted by Sasuke.

"I understand clearly, Sakura. At the age of 17 we were both irresponsible. Our relationship would never handle past 'friends' and we should have known, but I chose to stay with you to be responsible and fair to the child while you stayed because you were scared. Then eight years later you met a man who could possibly offer you 'love', the kind that you would never experience with me. However, it came at a price and you left the only person who'd truly love you no matter what. Yes, I think I understand." The small speech reduced the pink haired woman to tears, but she refused to let them fall and wiped them from her eyes.

Sakura's hands were shaped into fists, "Neji loved me, okay? He works hard and is loyal to me…" She whispered, though there was some doubt in the last few words.

"He loves you enough to abuse you? You ditched your daughters because you fell in love, and that man didn't even accept you for who you are: a mother."

"I know, I _know._ I regret that every single day. Anyway, I didn't come here to reminisce about my mistakes." She spat out bitterly and looked at the ceiling.

"Then what did you come here for?" Sasuke growled.

"Look, I have nowhere else to go. My parents live eighteen hours away from here by car and Neji would find out if I was in a hotel. You were my only option…"

"Okay, but why did you leave Neji if you were so 'in love'?" The air suddenly got tense and Sakura found herself very hesitant to answer.

She glanced around the room as if there was a spy just waiting for her to talk, "Uhm, Neji found my pregnancy test in the bathroom…" Her voice was shaky but it only got worse when she met the hard stare of Sasuke who seemed to have gotten very fatigued suddenly. "I…I know that you're thinking it's just a horrible repeat of the past, but this is different. I didn't want…Okay, it wasn't my decision." Her voice croaked and her eyes once again filled up with tears though this time she didn't stop them and she had to wipe them as they fell down his face.

Sasuke was slightly miffed at the breakdown, unaware of what was going on. He didn't really know what to say, he couldn't even find a reason for her to be crying. He couldn't forgive her for leaving her own children, and he certainly didn't want to be put in the same situation he was in almost seven years ago. When he found himself able to speak the only word he was able to form first was a mystified "What? What are you saying, Sakura, it wasn't your decision? You act like its hard _not_ to get pregnant."

The Uchiha watched the woman's shoulders heave from an effort not to burst into fresh tears; she shook her head clearly not wanting to say it out loud. Sasuke simply waited, though uncomfortable, not making a move to comfort Sakura. "He doesn't usually abuse me…He came home from working late at the hospital and after his shower he found…it by the trash. He must've had an awful day at work, and you know how his temper is…He just lost it. He began ranting about his reputation as a famed doctor and how I ruined it."

Sasuke contemplated over the explanation, "So, that excuses why he _beat_ you? How does getting his wife pregnant ruin his reputation might I ask?"

The question seemed to make Sakura tense and look away sharply. "It's not only the fact that I'm pregnant…it's the uhm, way I got pregnant." Her face flushed immediately wishing she could retract those words that escaped her lips. Sasuke simply stared at her in disbelief, though his expression did not show anything but an aching tiredness.

"Please do not tell me you were stupid enough to cheat on your husband, _again_?" His voice was a seething hiss feeling as if he could strangle something.

However, and to Sasuke's surprise, Sakura shook her head and waved her hands defensively. "No…No! I would never, not after…Well, not after last time." Her voice wavered again and tears spilled down her face pathetically and she covered her face in shame. "I know. I know I should have stayed with you, Sasuke…But I couldn't, I was ashamed. I couldn't face you or Aya, I certainly couldn't r-raise Kikue with someone like him."

"Sakura, you're failing to explain what this has to do with you being _beaten_ and…everything." Sasuke looked almost longingly out the window, it had already gotten dark outside and they had spent nearly an hour and a half in the coffee shop.

Sasuke wanted to be able to go home, away from the woman who potentially ruined Amaya's childhood. Anywhere but here, sitting in front of a crying person he had no desire to comfort. He had no room to pity anyone, no capacity to be sympathetic to a self-brought mourning. He silently wished she did not come back to him in the first place, he did not want her. In fact, he never did. These wants and feelings would never surface as emotions however, and were left bottled in the man's mind.

Sakura took a deep intake of breath before pulling her posture together, "Sasuke, I need to tell you what really happened with Neji. After this, I promise I'll leave and get myself together, but for now…For once, I need you to listen to me. I met him when Ino and I went to the beach that summer, he was there for business or something, I don't remember-" She was interrupted by a snort of an unsurprised tone and her face faltered into an expression of hurt.

"Ino never knew, but we met a few times. Sasuke, I loved you so much but you never loved me back. I tried so hard for you, but you never even made an effort."

"You knew we were only married to do what was right for Aya. Don't use that against me, Sakura. You still haven't-"

"Stop, I know. I told you to listen…When I left you guys it wasn't for Neji, it was for Kikue. The night…Kikue was conceived, Ino had taken me to a nightclub with her and he just happened to be there. She left early because she didn't feel too good, that was the night she got food poisoning and the next day we had to go home because she felt awful…Among other things. Anyways, when Ino left Neji found me and took me back to his hotel."

"Sakura, I don't want to hear about you having sex, that's not what I came to hear. " Sasuke grunted angrily.

Sakura nodded, "I know. I only noticed it was the most foolish thing I've ever done afterwards. I forgot the reason we were married. He was kind and sweet to me; I forgot what it was like to be loved like that. A month later, Neji was still trying to get in contact with me. He showed up at my workplace a couple times. When I started getting morning sickness I realized I was pregnant. When I confronted him he insisted I leave you for him and get an abortion. That was the first time he's ever hit me. I wouldn't do it so he got angry. I called Ino and she picked me up, brought me back home.

He kept finding me places like work or the grocery store. When you were out with Shikamaru he showed up at our house. He threatened he would do something drastic if I didn't file a divorce with you. So, in order for him to leave I agreed. I told you about him, and to be expected it was harder to get a divorce than I thought. You know what happened after that. In the midst of our divorce I gave birth to Kikue, refused custody and handed, no, trusted her to you. Neji and I got married a year later, and I lived. He made sure I wasn't lonely and for those couple years I felt an artificial love. Until almost two months ago when he came home from work tired and grumpy. For some reason he was angry at me, I still don't know why, and he pushed me around but when I retaliated he…He raped me."

There was a pregnant pause after that, Sasuke trying to collect his thoughts about this and Sakura was left unsure of what to say. "I was too scared to leave because…Well, you know how he was with his reputation and Kikue, I could only imagine if I left. A while later I started getting sick and I know the warning signs. That's when I took the pregnancy test, he found it and after freaking out on me I ran off with my car."

For a little while they sat there in silence, all this information left Sasuke slightly…bemused. He hated the feeling, it left him out of control and scattered his thoughts. Through all of the information going around his mind, he found himself resentful to even speak. Was it the truth? Did her 'disposal', as he so delicately put it for years, of Kikue actually have good intentions? Or was it just some scheme to dump the next child on him? The thought made him quickly turn the engine of the car on and pull out of the parking lot.

"Sasuke, can you just think about what I said? You don't have to say anything; I know that's not really what you do." Sakura said with an earnest yet pleading look. Sasuke simply grunted and they spent the drive home watching the suburban houses and perfectly trimmed yards flash past the window. Sakura's head leaned against the cooled glass of her passenger window, hoping to cool down the heated emotions whirling around her. It was times like these where she found herself envious of how collected the man next to her seemed to be.

Sasuke pulled up in front of his house and walked Sakura to Shikamaru's house. She found her hand trembling as she clasped the door handle, she found her resolve fade away and rang the doorbell. This was not her home, she was barging in someone's personal life. "You guys are late." Shikamaru's dull voice rang out as he opened the door.

After Sakura apologized and Sasuke shrugged, the Uchiha asked, "Where's Ino?"

"Where do you think?" Shikamaru retorted and walked over to the door and plopped himself on the couch with a sigh.

"…Shit." Sasuke growled and briskly walked out the door closing it shut on the way out. He unlocked his own front door and called out, "I'm home." He looked around the first story before heading up to the upstairs. When he got upstairs and entered Kikue's room he saw Ino sitting on the side of his youngest daughter's bed giggling. "Ino…"

"Oh, hello Sasuke." Ino greeted with a wide grin, though he could see the tiredness in her eyes. She turned back to Kikue and hugged her gently, "Good night! I'll see you tomorrow." The two adults walked downstairs and were silent until they got outside on the porch. "Look Sasuke, I _love_ your daughters, but…I don't know how much longer I can babysit like this. I mean work is getting really busy right now and I'm not even working full-time. I'm getting married in less than two months." Ino sighed quietly leaning against the railing of the porch steps.

Sasuke nodded quietly. Ino smiled brightly again and threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug, "Ohhh, I just KNEW you would understand Sasuke!" She ran to the edge of his yard before turning around, "I will absolutely help you find a new babysitter, good night!" With just that goodbye she left inside their home.

The house was oddly quiet, usually it took almost an hour to get Kikue to settle down, but as Sasuke made his way upstairs all he could hear was some muffled sound he couldn't identify. When he entered Kikue's room he realized what it was when a tear-streaked face met his. Kikue was lying with her head on Aya's shoulders, tears falling down her face while her older sister ran larger hands through her hair. "What's up, Kikue?" Sasuke asked quietly, pulling his daughter into her arms and nodding to tell Aya she could go back to her room.

It was ten minutes and a warm cup of tea later that Kikue was able to calmly talk with the occasional sniffle and tears as she sat cuddled next to her dad on the kitchen counters (which for some reason always made Kikue feel rebellious to sit on). He almost smiled at how alike she was to her mother, but then again he would never think that as a compliment. Through many stutters, hiccups, sniffles, and nose blowing Kikue spilled her guts, "Yuri t-t-told m-me t-that I w-was the r-r-eason I-I don't h-have a mum a-and y-you a-are a-alone." This left Sasuke speechless, what kind of six and seven year olds did he send his daughter to school with?

"Kikue, you do have a mom. She may not be here right now, but you have a mom. Don't listen to what that girl said, I'm going to call your teacher tomorrow morning and explain to her. I'm sure Yuri didn't mean it like that." He wiped the fresh set of tears from the little girl's eyes, her lips had a small smile on them almost in relief. This made Sasuke really uneasy, why did this have to happen today? "I'm not alone either. I have you and Aya." This seemed to get Kikue back into a good mood; however exhaustion for both of them was kicking in.

As Kikue was getting re-tucked in, Sasuke was still confused about one thing. "Kikue, why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"I d-didn't want daddy to be uhm…" Her sentence was destructed by a yawn and lack of words. While trying to find the word she wanted she fell asleep, but Sasuke didn't need the sentence to be finished to understand what she meant. She didn't want him to be worried.

After he made sure Kikue was sleeping he went into Aya's room. "How was kickboxing?" He asked curiously.

"It was fun." Aya said with a tired smile on her face, she turned around from her computer chair. "Hey, you never told me you went on a date with Mr. Uzumaki."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "I didn't. Why?" He nearly forgot that he and Naruto went out for lunch.

"Oh, well he was talking about it with Ino tonight. Hey, if you're worried about how I feel about it; it doesn't matter who you date, really." Aya yawned and kissed her dad on the cheek before getting in her bed. There was a certain way that she said the last part that made Sasuke curious but he didn't say anything.

"Well, I'm not 'dating' him, Aya. Good night."

"Mhm, 'night."

Sasuke groaned as he changed into something suitable to sleep in. He swore that if that man stepped one foot into his workplace or personal life tomorrow, he would strangle the man. He certainly did not go on a date with the man or would ever. However, there was a small inner nagging that told him he wouldn't be able to get rid of Naruto Uzumaki that easily.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, eh I couldn't end it right but okay. There will be more NaruSasu next chapter, plus I might have to raise the rating by the time I'm done.

Please review if you have any critiques,suggestions, or anything to say about the story to make it better.

I'm really sorry about the long wait, I really thought I was going to keep it as a one-shot so this part has just kind of been sitting around.

Thank you for reading and reviewing!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, I have news! This story is now being betaed by: Obsidian Viscaria (she used to be CoffeeNeurotic...like the other day haha). She's really awesome and she has 6 wonderful SasuNaru stories out. So you should definitely check out her stories if you haven't already.**

**Thank you to all my reviewers of Chapter 2, I hope you got my review replies.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Betaed by: Obsidian Viscaria

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Kicking Boxes

Chapter 3

"Yo, Sasuke? Sasuke?" A voice was repeating a certain Uchiha's name over and over again, but it wasn't until the fourth or fifth call that he woke out of his stupor. With bland eyes he looked over to the source of the voice, finding it to be Shikamaru. "Geez, what's with you? You have a call, probably from a client or something."

Sasuke Uchiha sat in his office chair, mentally grimacing as he picked up the phone. Work that morning went by tediously. The accountant had not slept well the night before and wound up oversleeping, which caused him to be late for work. When he put the phone down he was met with a questioning stare from Shikamaru. "May I help you?" Sasuke grunted before proceeding to fill out some paper work that needed to be handed in to their boss.

"I'm taking it didn't go so well with Sakura last night." Shikamaru sighed, putting his work to the side and leaned back in his chair to gaze up at the ceiling. He obviously wasn't worried about getting caught slacking by his boss. "Ino is trying to help her find an apartment, but until then she's staying with us. Speaking of which, have you thought of finally introducing her to Kikue?"

Phones were ringing in the background and the mixture of that and Shikamaru's voice was making it increasingly hard for Sasuke to concentrate on getting his work done. "No. I have not." He practically growled, the thought of Sakura showing up at their doorstep was like a nightmare to him and he already faced it once.

The lazy man rolled his eyes, "Look, what if Aya sees Sakura? It's been a long time since Sakura left, but it hasn't been that long. Your mother's face isn't something you just forget."

"She won't be able to understand why Sakura le-"

Their conversation was cut short by a strong cough coming from behind Sasuke, "Nara, Uchiha, discuss your personal lives after work!" Shikamaru quickly made himself look busy and Sasuke turned around to see their boss: Tsunade. Sasuke was about to make a retort but the older woman dismissed him with a wave of her hand, "I need those financial reports before your break at noon."

There was a heavy silence after that. Sasuke settled for doing his paperwork but couldn't help his eyes from wandering to the clock. He only had a half hour left until his break and he was still rummaging through past documents, trying to find the numbers he needed. His concentration was interrupted when Shikamaru's phone rang. Sasuke watched his friend curiously as the lazy man suddenly seemed confused, "Uhm, okay…If he really needs to."

It shouldn't have surprised Sasuke as much as it did when Naruto Uzumaki showed up at their desk with a plastic bag in his hands and that big grin on his face. "Hey guys!" Sasuke pushed his hair out of his eyes and mentally groaned. If that idiot stayed around, he definitely would not be able to finish his work. "Jerk, don't make that face at me. I brought you guys lunch!" He gestured to his plastic bag and held it in front of Sasuke's face.

Sasuke pushed the bag away from him and glared, "I hope you're aware that if Tsunade, our boss, catches you out here with us we will have the potential to be fired." After he spat this out roughly he got back to his work and tried his best to ignore the blond. Naruto just glared at him as if he didn't believe the man.

"Uh, no. Sasuke's actually right; Tsunade will kill all three of us if she sees us slacking off again." Shikamaru agreed and he too went back to work. Naruto sighed and just sat himself up on the end of Sasuke's desk watching him work. "Naruto, why don't you just wait outside for us to go on break in like ten minutes?"

"Or just go home…" Sasuke added under his breath.

"Awww no, don't want to. I'll just chill here until then. I get so bored by myself."

Sasuke was about to object but he could hear the sound of high heels tapping on the tile. Shikamaru gave Sasuke a terrified look and pointed to Naruto. Getting the hint, Sasuke quickly backed up his chair and grabbed Naruto by the collar. "Get down, idiot," Sasuke growled, pulled him and kicked him with his foot under his desk.

"Did you get the paperwork done, Uchiha?" Tsunade asked venomously. Shikamaru let out a breath of relief as the woman was oblivious to the man smuggled underneath Sasuke's desk. Sasuke simply nodded while he kept a foot on the top of Naruto's head to make sure he stayed down. "Good, I'll take them." He quickly scribbled his signature on the bottom of the page before handing her the papers. "You may go on break now, Sasuke. You too, Shikamaru."

When Sasuke was sure the old woman was gone he allowed the blond to come out from under the desk. "What the hell was that for?" Naruto nearly yelled as he rubbed his sore head. "I brought you lunch and you repay me by shoving me under a desk?"

There was no witty retort by the stoic Uchiha, he simply took the bag which sat on his desk and walked towards the doors. When he was halfway out the door he turned around and gave the two men a look of expectancy. Naruto settled for a stubborn glare, reluctant to go after Sasuke since he was shoved beneath a desk. Shikamaru murmured something that sounded like, 'You two are so damn troublesome,' and grabbed his friend's wrist, dragging him out the door.

When they reached the outside of the building Sasuke sat with his back to the concrete wall. The two other men followed and sat on either side of him. Shikamaru stretched his limbs, bathing in the feel of fresh air. "Man, it was tense back there. Tsunade's been really strict since she got that notice from Corporate."

Sasuke just ignored him and opened the bag to find three wrapped sandwiches, raising an eyebrow at Naruto, "These better not be burgers. I would not be surprised; I noticed you are fond of greasy foods." He took one before handing the bag to Shikamaru.

"Oh, heaven forbid you actually eat food." Naruto retorted sarcastically. When he was handed the bag a look of realization hit him, "Oh I guess I'll go buy us some drinks or something." Without a look back he went back into the building, undoubtedly to find a vending machine.

At that moment, Sasuke wanted to spend the few moments Shikamaru and him were alone scolding him for letting Naruto into his life even more. He spent the last two days fighting the blond out of his life, but each time he thought he succeeded he showed up even more persistent than the last time.

Shikamaru sensed an argument coming on so he quickly started talking, "Oh yeah, Ino and I can't babysit this weekend. We're going camping on Saturday morning with Tenten and Lee. Friday night is still on at my place though."

"Fine." Was all that Sasuke said. His voice didn't indicate hurt or jealousy as most would expect from such a simple and hollow sentence. It meant what it meant, it was fine. That was one thing Shikamaru liked about his friend who has been a pain in the ass for as long as he's known him. When Sasuke said something, he meant it. There was no hurt, jealousy, or malicious intent hidden behind such normal words. That is not saying he did not spew out sarcasm in the form of nice words or he would not dare cursing and belittling someone. He'd make it clear what he meant.

Something cold and metallic was suddenly pressed against Sasuke's forehead but when he swiped at it with his hand it disappeared. He heard a familiar laughter which seeped into his entire being and he closed his eyes in order to calm his senses. "Did I scare you, Sasu-baby?" Naruto chuckled as he sat back down beside the tormented man. The cold sodas were passed around and Shikamaru was quick to strike up a conversation before Sasuke started an argument.

"Are you guys going to be kickboxing tonight?" Naruto asked after a while.

"Eh, no, I'm just going to relax at home tonight. Ino might show up though," Shikamaru said. However, Sasuke knew that he would be with Sakura, planning.

Naruto wiggled his eyebrows flirtaciously towards the Uchiha, "What about you?"

"I don't really have a choice," Sasuke glared.

At this point, Shikamaru was tired of the tension. He left the two to go back up, saying that he had a lot of work to do and Tsunade would murder him if he didn't get it done. There was an uneasy silence after the door shut behind him. Sasuke was never good at 'making friends', but he told himself that it didn't really matter because he didn't want such a loud and stubborn celebrity barging into his life.

"So, do your girls like kickboxing?" Naruto asked uneasily.

"Yes. Ino brings over your tapes." Sasuke replied.

It felt a little strange, Naruto not being as agressively 'outgoing' as he usually was. For the past two days the celebrity tried to somehow stuff in the Uchiha's mind that he was attracted to him. The lack of the flirting and stalking was making Sasuke tense, not because he wants any of that but because the idiot was unpredictable and the quiet side of him was just too good to be true. He was barely halfway through eating his sandwich before he decided he wasn't hungry any more and wrapped it up. He was about to discard it into the plastic bag where Shikamaru had put his trash, but a hand grabbed his wrist.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto, his face creased into a scowl, "What do you think you are doing?" His voice's intonation was stoic and without a falter, Naruto had to ask himself the same question before resolve swept over him again.

"You barely even ate that!" Sasuke was almost taken by surprise by the scolding tone Naruto took with him. It would have been comical if the whole subject of what he ate hadn't gotten monotonous the first time.

"Would you stop monitoring how I eat?" Sasuke hissed, "I'm not anorexic. I lost my appetite." He yanked his wrist out of Naruto's grasp, the sandwich still in his hand. "I have to get back to work."

"Wait, Sasuke!" Naruto yelped and scrambled to his feet. Sasuke's hand was on the handle of the glass doors but the blond managed to get a hold of that hand and twirled him around to face him. In a successful attempt to keep Sasuke from getting away, he grasped onto the blue tie that hung from the other man's shirt.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow down at the blond, it was then that he realized that he was almost two inches taller than Naruto but he was much less muscular than the kick boxer; should he start working out? Why he suddenly thought of something as trivial as that when he was nearly getting strangled by the obnoxious man, he did not know. Once he got his mind back into focus he glared and clenched his hand around the one holding his tie. "Do you mind, Uzumaki?"

A free hand ran down Sasuke's side until it rested on his hip, his thumb caressing in random circular patterns. However, as much of a turn on this action would have been for almost anybody else, it offended the stern male it was used on. Before Naruto could react to the familiar narrowing of Sasuke's eyes, a hand grasped the celebrity's wrist so hard he had to release his hold on the tie. It was only a second later when both of Sasuke's hands came back and shoved at his shoulders.

Gracelessly losing his balance and with a flail of arms, Naruto fell onto his back with a groan of pain. Maybe that had been a bad idea, he thought. Sasuke didn't just stop there; he took the half-eaten sandwich, still wrapped, and threw it at the still-recovering blond. "Do not mess with me," Was all that was said before Sasuke left him sprawled on the ground.

--

To say that Naruto felt awkward from then on at the rest of the kickboxing sessions was an understatement. He spent most of his time dodging the glares of disgust and hatred from the father. It was rather difficult to avoid coming into contact with him though when his two daughters ambushed him after every class. Ino had assured him that if he just went up to Sasuke and apologized thoroughly, he would understand and it would just blow over like it never happened. He tried, he really did, but every time he tried to say the words 'I'm sorry', an image of that strange emotion that crossed Sasuke's face before Naruto was shoved into the ground appeared in his head.

On the other hand, Sasuke was rather content with the lack of contact between him and Naruto. Over the last two days he had peace at his lunch breaks at work. After countless punches and kicks, the last day of kickboxing had ended. He would never have to see Naruto Uzumaki ever again. At least, that's what he thought.

"Daddy, tuck me in!" Kikue squealed from outside Sasuke's bedroom.

"Alright, alright," Sasuke reassured her and followed her into her bedroom. Kikue quickly burrowed herself under the covers until only her head was showing. He made sure he blankets were snug around her before he kissed her on the forehead, "Good night, Kikue. I'll be right next door. Aya's just downstairs if you need her." Kikue nodded with a wide grin.

After saying goodnight to Amaya, Sasuke walked over to Shikamaru and Ino's house nextdoor. He rang the doorbell and opened the door once he heard a voice yell, "Come in!" He saw Shikamaru sitting infront of a rack of DVDs, several piles of discarded ones around him. "Ah, I'm just trying to find this movie that Ino wanted to watch…" Shikamaru muttered. "Sasuke, do you mind going upstairs to get Ino and Sakura? They're in the guest bedroom."

Sasuke simply shrugged and started for the stairs. When he got into the doorway of the guest room, Ino and Sakura were sprawled on a futon with several pages of newspaper scattered around the room. Realizing there was someone outside, Ino looked up and a grin spread through her face, "Hey, Sasuke! We're looking for ads in the paper for an apartment." Sakura didn't say anything; she just sat there looking frazzled and cowered behind Ino. The blonde seemed to have noticed, "Uh, Sasuke can you wait for us downstairs with Shikamaru? I have to go dry my hair. Kickboxing was rough tonight."

Downstairs, Shikamaru finally found the DVD he was looking for and managed to neatly stack them into their original places. "They aren't ready?" Shikamaru sighed, irritation mixed in his voice. "Oh well, we have another person coming tonight…"

By the strange look on Shikamaru's face, Sasuke had a pretty good idea of who this person was. Sure enough, seemingly two seconds after, the doorbell rang. Shikamaru, who was rummaging through the fridge now, looked expectantly at him. "Can you get that, Sasuke?"

Sasuke snorted and glared at Shikamaru. He knew who was behind that door, and he was pretty sure it would be unwise for him of all people to answer it. Shikamaru did not give in and just stared coolly back at him. The doorbell rang again; neither made a move towards the door. Shikamaru huffed after the third ring and grumbled, "Fine." With a beer in his hand he swung the door open. Of course, Naruto stood there with a cheesy grin on his face and some sort of large circular container.

"Hey, Shika! I baked a cake earlier." Naruto shoved the container into Shikamaru's arms boastfully. Shikamaru just looked down at it, a somewhat startled expression crossed over his face.

"Who exactly do you think is going to eat _that?_" Sasuke snorted, not bothering with a greeting.

Naruto glared, "Obviously not you, you don't eat real food."

"So, I would like your 'cake' then?"

"Bastard! I'm actually rather skilled at baking. I bet you couldn't even bake brownies out of a box!"

"I'm surprised you know what baking means."

"Only idiots wouldn't know what baking means!"

"Hence why I was surprised-"

"Are you two seriously arguing again? Over a cake, how old are you two?" They were interrupted by Ino's yell, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs with a hand on her hip. Shikamaru looked relieved; he had tried to stop the bickering but failed miserably and then just retreated to the couch, drinking his beer. Naruto backed down right away, looking as if he was just beaten with a stick. Sasuke remained stoic and took a seat on the couch next to Shikamaru.

"You two can grab a soda or beer from the fridge if you want one," Ino addressed Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto grinned and snagged a soda with a quick 'thanks'. They were all piled into the living room with the DVD playing the menu music over and over again, Ino was still in the kitchen making popcorn.

Naruto, who was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch, turned to Sakura who was sitting on the loveseat that sat diagonally from the couch Shikamaru and Sasuke sat on. "Sakura," He said in a singsong voice, "I don't fly out until tomorrow evening, we should go out and do something!"

"Naruto, stop trying to seduce Sakura, she's married!" Ino yelled from the kitchen.

Naruto's mouth gaped open in mock indignation, "I would never!"

When Ino came back into the livingroom she had her arms full with separate bowls of popcorn. After handing those out she curled herself up on the couch sitting next to Shikamaru. "What happened to not being attracted to girls, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto smiled and stared at Sasuke, "I haven't had any luck with men lately," he sent a wink at Sasuke who frowned and threw the pillow closest to him in the blond's face. "Ouch."

The popcorn was served out in bowls and Ino started the movie. This weird setting made Sasuke think back to when he was married. Ino and Sakura had made sarcastic and witty comments throughout most of the movies and never really actually paid much attention the storyline or anything. Now, Sakura sat there quietly, she still didn't seem to be paying any attention but there were no comments or sarcastic laughter.

It was halfway through the movie when they heard banging noises and the phone rang. Shikamaru took the phone call while the others tried to see out of the window just what the noise was. Sasuke listened in to Shikamaru's now urgent voice, trying to get a sense of what was wrong. "Just calm down and stay inside, Aya."

Having heard his daughter's name, Sasuke pulled open the front door and leapt down the porch stairs where he could see the front of his house clearly. He heard a familiar voice yelling and a fist banging into the door. "Hey!" Sasuke called out in an attempt to grab the person's attention. The familiar person walked so that his profile could be seen and in that instant Sasuke's stomach fell. He knew he shouldn't have let Sakura anywhere near his family. "Get the hell off my property, Neji."

Neji's face was contorted from rage, his long brown hair was disheveled, and his light violet eyes had a reddish tint to them. All these factors made Sasuke assume that the irate man was drunk. "Where is she?" Neji hissed.

"She's not here," Sasuke replied coldly. Neji met him halfway up the driveway, getting right up in his personal space. "Go home, Neji."

Of course, Neji did not take kindly to being ordered around, especially when he was drunk. His chest was heaving with anger and his eyes looked wildly about. "I _know_ she's here, she has nowhere else to go."

"She's not." Sasuke growled.

A hand shot out and punched Sasuke across the cheek before he had a chance to dodge it. Sasuke cursed loudly before returning the punch, he felt his fist connect with the bridge of Neji's nose. He caught the next punch with his left hand and used his right to grab a handful of the other man's business suit to push him on the concrete ground. The whole time, Neji shouted obscenities and things that sounded like threats.

Naruto ran out of Shikamaru's house to find Neji and Sasuke sprawled on the ground in a tangle of limbs with fists flying. Somehow he managed to grab a hold of Sasuke's arm as soon as he cocked it back and dragged him back away from the brunette. The both of them had blood running out of their nose and several areas of their faces were swelling. Neji sat up and wiped the blood off on his rumpled suit's sleeve, though he didn't look any less angry and he would have tried to have another go at Sasuke until Sakura came running into the yard.

The Uchiha nearly groaned as he saw the pink haired woman standing there, he wanted yell at her to go inside but his lip was swelled and aching. "Neji what the hell are you doing here?" Sakura asked, her voice was surprisingly stern. Sasuke didn't expect that familiar tone of voice to be back so soon in the woman.

"I'm here to bring you back home." He nearly growled, he managed to get up on his feet.

Sakura's face was caught somewhere between anxiety and severe anger. She kept looking towards the windows of Sasuke's house. "What do you think you are doing at Sasuke's house?"

On unsteady feet, Neji staggered over to his wife, "I know you've been staying with him, Sakura. I know even after all I've done for you, you are still in love with him. I saw your daughter. What was her name? Ama-"

He didn't have a chance to finish the name; Sakura had punched him in the stomach. Neji doubled over, one of his hands clutching at his stomach. "I'm filing a divorce, Neji. I'll be by tomorrow so until then, get out of here before someone calls the cops."

With that, Neji left, though not before sending one last glare at Sasuke. Sakura instantly ran over to Sasuke to make sure he was alright. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke."

Suddenly the door to Sasuke's house opened and Aya was standing on the front porch. However, she did not gasp at the appearance of her father, it was the almost identical face of the pink haired woman that startled her. "Mom?" She called, unsure if it was really her or if it was just a coincidence that this woman looked exactly like what she could recall of her mother.

At that moment, Sakura's stomach felt like it had a weight in it and she felt the blood draining from her face. Shikamaru hurried up the steps in an instant and ushered Amaya into the house, closing the door behind them.

An awkward silence filled the air and Naruto suddenly felt out of place. "Sasuke…Maybe we should get you inside to clean up, you look awful."

"Go home, Naruto." Sasuke all but yelled.

The said man winced at Sasuke's harsh tone, "Excuse me?" He asked incredulously.

"I said get the fuck away from me." He spat out. His life had just gotten much more complicated.

* * *

**Reviews are greatly appreciated! I love reading what you have to say about the story and I'll reply to them all. Thank youu.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello again! Uh, so I've been extremely stressed out about health issues and the crapload of schoolwork I have so I didn't get the chance to reply to everyone's reviews. So I'm really sorry if you didn't get one and you wanted one haha, you probably don't read them but…I like sending them out it's just I'm so super tired and I just wanted to get this out so I can finally work on a new chapter in my spare time.**

**I apologize for accidentally putting Tsunade in there. Whoops. I've had that part done for a month now and I must have reread it a billion times and didn't notice. Okay…Well, I just wanted to fix it and I thought I might as well since I'm still awake doing my english project that's due in a couple hours…There might be more errors dealing with that but I'll fix them after I actually get some sleep. Thank you for pointing it out, Emotive Gothika =).**

**The first part of this is in the past with Sakura and Sasuke in high school and how they hooked up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Kicking Boxes

Chapter 4

Sakura could still remember the day she met Sasuke Uchiha. She could remember the moment she fell in love with him and the moment she realized he would never love her back.

When she was almost halfway through her ninth grade year of high school, Sasuke transferred. He was the talk of the school and when they heard it was a boy, every ninth grade girl was just dying to meet him. Well, that's an exaggeration; their school was fairly large with over 2,000 students so not every girl knew of this 'famous' new transfer student. But surely, it would be a one in a million chance that Sasuke was put in the same home room as her.

That was why she was sure it was fate that dragged him into _her_ home room, not their teacher Asuma. Sakura had noticed some of the girls in her class got extremely antsy at the sight of the boy; he was amazing and strange. He was very different from the normal jocks that typically resided at their school. He was lean and had a cool air around him. Even Sakura was itching to introduce herself.

She could still recall how throughout their first period class, Pre-calculus, she had a hard time concentrating because Asuma gave him a spot diagonally from her to sit. During her years of schooling she had always been a top student, academically, though now she was sure she would fail from being distracted.

She admitted, to herself, that she spent that year nearly stalking him. It only got worse when Ino got wrapped into it. The two found themselves constantly at each other's throats about who should back down. They'd been friends for years but this new 'crush' was destroying them and before she knew it they were ignoring each other for the rest of the year.

The few weeks that followed the break up of Sakura and Ino's friendship, she realized how difficult it was to make new friends without the strength of her best friend by her side. She was outgoing enough, but she lacked the assertiveness that she got when she was with Ino. When she'd look back at all the friends that she made in the past, they happened because of Ino. She couldn't remember ever feeling so alone.

But then a few weeks after the fight, she met a red head named Karin. Karin was a tall older girl who was in 11th grade. She was the essence of cool. She _dared_ to customize her school uniform and tailored her skirt twice as short as was allowed which every girl admired (however Sakura discovered years later from Sasuke that it wasn't because she was 'bad ass' that she never got in trouble, it was because her step-father was the principal of the school), but that wasn't the reason why Sakura was so excited to just talk to her. Karin was friends with Sasuke, _friends_. Not many people could claim that.

Sakura had gone straight from school to the local clothing store in hopes of finding something to wear to the upcoming dance. Dances weren't really her thing, but she promised Hinata she would help her ask Kiba to dance. Before leaving, she decided to head to the jewelry department and that was where she ran into Karin. "Oh, you go to my school, too…" She remembered Karin not even saying hello or how are you, "You look like a mama's girl. What do you buy your mom for her birthday?"

With just those few sentences, they began a strange friendship. Sakura also learned a lot of things about Sasuke through this new relationship. For instance, Sasuke was adopted, he originally came from the big city but something that happened in Junior High forced him to move, she knew his favorite color was navy blue, and his best subject was math. Despite all this, she didn't get close to him until the end of summer break.

The first interaction she had with him was at Karin's house. She was invited to Karin's birthday party and Sasuke, surprisingly, showed up. At first he wouldn't talk to her at all, except for the grunts that pronounced she was 'annoying'. There weren't a lot of people at the 'party'; it was just Sasuke, Sakura, Juugo, Suigetsu and Karin. The atmosphere made Sakura a little nervous. She had always thought of herself as a modest and level-headed girl with big plans for the future. So she was surprised when she found herself contemplating whether or not to accept the beer being offered to her by Suigetsu. She really wanted to say no, but she looked over and saw Sasuke sipping his beer and before she knew it there was a can of beer in her hands.

Sakura was the first to show the signs of being drunk, after one beer. She had never experienced beer or its effects, which she figured wasn't unusual; she _was_ only 15 after all and hardly an average weight. Sasuke was loose enough, after drinking, to actually respond and partake in a conversation with her. To anyone else, that moment would have seemed unimportant and not significant enough to even remember but despite her alcohol-clouded mind, she remembered the moment they actually held a conversation for a long time afterwards.

When Sakura had finally gotten together with Sasuke it was in Suigetsu's backyard and the end of October. The whole day the guys were making jokes about Sasuke's sexuality, questioning if he liked girls. Sakura and Karin denied this for him; he could not possibly be _gay_. All of Sakura's hopes relied on the fact that Sasuke was only interested in girls.

That afternoon, Sakura got her first kiss and got together as a couple with Sasuke Uchiha. The day had finally come, and she swore she was the happiest person on earth. It had happened so quickly. Her mom was waiting in the car for her, but when she left she was pulled back down and her lips were locked into Sasuke's. It was awkward at first, but Sasuke obviously knew what he was doing. His experience had made her nervous, where had he learned to kiss? But when it was over, she was relieved; he didn't seem disgusted with her.

Nothing was said after the kiss. She just blushed and ran into the car. The next day he called and asked her out. It was a little weird, she admitted, that he used to act like he didn't care at all and then he was suddenly interested in her. It wasn't like he turned into a happy, cheery, or loving person he just was actually…kind. He hardly smiled, but he never said anything harsh like he used to. He was gentle and they met everyday after school and sat next to each other on the bus.

Several months passed and it was close to winter. Snow had already fallen and Sakura was in Karin's backyard again. This time it was only Karin and Sakura. "Sakura, have you and Sasuke done _it_ yet?" The rebel asked nosily.

Just the concept made Sakura blush and pull her scarf closer around her neck. She looked away; sometimes she absolutely regretted befriending Karin. They weren't anything alike. Looking back in a few years, she would realize she only ever used her to get to Sasuke. The question was left unanswered, but it still lingered in the air and in her mind.

"No? Sakura," Karin drawled, "you can't keep Sasuke just on smiles and kisses. He'll get bored of you."

This couldn't be true, sure their relationship had gone by with just small kisses, that were rare, but she was happy to just to _be _with him. Surely Sasuke didn't want to have, dare she say it, sex. However, Karin was usually right when it came to Sasuke. There was a certain nagging in her mind that told her Sasuke might not even _like_ her that much. Was the only reason he got together with her because that day they were questioning his sexuality?

"It will give you an opportunity to see how much he _really_ likes you."

Hook line and sinker, Sakura was caught. Except, still…the thought of losing her virginity at age 15…It creeped her out, it went against everything she was taught. It was like stepping out of your bedroom door and finding yourself in the North Pole. Drinking beer, having teenage sex, it was way too…'rebel' for her to take. Life was so much easier when she submerged herself in books and passed the time away at Ino's house.

With that thought, she found herself one day after school at Ino's front door. Nervous that Ino would not accept her back into her life; her hands shook as she waited for someone to answer the door. "Sakura? I haven't seen you around here in such a long time! You must be freezing, come in! Ino's up in her room." Ino's mother answered the door and ushered her in, using her normal hospitable tone.

Sakura thanked Ino's mother and shook off the snow from her school shoes before taking them off. When she peered into Ino's bedroom she saw the girl lying on her bed, flipping through a magazine. It was such a familiar sight that it made Sakura feel a little lonely and melancholic. "Ino?" She found her voice unusually soft and tentative, as if she spoke too loudly Ino would disperse into mid-air and she would find herself back at Karin's house.

Ino nearly jumped and immediately tensed when she saw Sakura, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Karin?" There was hurt laced in the harsh voice, however Sakura was not surprised.

"I'm sorry, Ino…" Sakura started, she didn't really know what to say. How do you confess you were selfish and ignorant without hurting your pride? Though, should she be caring about pride at a moment such as this, when she _needed_ Ino and Ino probably needed her? The blonde just ignored her and went back to sorting through the magazine.

Hesitantly, Sakura approached her. "I…I didn't mean anything I said to you. Karin-"

"Is a manipulative bitch? I know," Ino cut in with a familiar smile on her face. Sakura had to hold in a snort of laughter.

That was all it took for Ino and Sakura to become friends again after a year of not speaking. Their fight seemed so trivial then too. The two spread more magazines out on Ino's twin bed before nestling themselves in a small space to look through them. Why they enjoyed looking through magazines when all they did was make sarcastic comments about them, they wouldn't have been able to answer themselves.

"So, you actually got with Sasuke?" Ino asked curiously as they flipped the pages of their third magazine. "How did this happen?"

Sakura blushed, her spare hand pulling on a loose thread from the bottom of her school shirt. "Eh, last summer at Karin's house…"

The whole situation was ironic. She had always pictured Ino to be first in getting a boyfriend. Ino was way more outgoing, pretty, and selfless than she ever was. Sakura was bland, boring, and her hair was untameable and only slightly attractive, at least in her eyes. Not to mention more than a little bit selfish.

"So what's it like?" Ino asked, nudging Sakura with her elbow.

"Uhm, well…It's nerve-wracking?" Sakura offered. Before she knew it she started spouting everything, her fears and anxieties to Karin and drinking beer.

"Well, isn't that obvious? If you don't want to, don't do it." Ino suggested nonchalantly.

"Would you do it?"

"I don't know. Maybe. If it was _right._"

"What do you mean, right?" Sakura could tell Ino was getting slightly flustered at the direction the conversation was headed in.

Ino heaved a sigh and pushed some magazines out of her way, "I don't know, Sakura. You're only 15 though…"

Sakura glared at her friend indignantly, "You're only six months older than me and I'll be 16 in March." The blond just shrugged carelessly.

Despite Ino's suggestions of just forgetting about it, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke was losing interest like Karin expected. When they were together, he seemed to be looking around instead of paying more attention to her. He always seemed as if his mind was off in space. As more time passed, her mind got more set on trying to save the relationship.

Finally, in February she had everything planned. She would go for it. Based on several other girls' opinions, when the time was right they knew it. Sakura wasn't sure when that would be, it could be too late but she was stubborn that her first time was going to be perfect. There was a nagging part in her brain, her sensible side – which for the past year has been shoved into the deepest depths of her mind – was asking her: How is anybody prepared for sex when they just think it'll happen naturally and when the 'right time' comes? Why aren't there a billion more single parents out there if they just do it when the time is right? They were such stupid questions, but Sakura was sure that if she was going to betray the trust of her parents, she would be prepared.

So one Saturday, armed with condoms and the research she had done, she told her parents she was going to Ino's and left for Sasuke's house. Kakashi let her into the house, there was a weird way he looked at her that made her avoid making eye contact, it was as if he felt bad for her but she couldn't find why. Going out with Sasuke was supposed to be the greatest honor in the world, not something that people would pity you for. She ignored it; he would be out of the house in several minutes for a conference.

It was strange and awkward. She remembered Karin and various other girls saying that it would be wonderful and they went on and on how much more mature they were afterwards. However it wasn't anything like they said. It was painful and…uncomfortable. The last adjective she would use for it would be wonderful. Afterwards she was left feeling empty. Of course, she still loved Sasuke, she was determined that nothing would destroy her love for the boy. The next time though she would let it come naturally and leave the preparing to Sasuke.

Half a year later she discovered she was one month pregnant. Everything seemed to crumble at her feet. Sasuke seemed to grow colder and colder as the days went by and Sakura was having a hard time hiding the news. A while later, when she felt her stomach noticeably getting bigger and her mother urged her, she knew she'd have to tell him.

So on a Friday she went to Sasuke's house and was let in once again by Kakashi. He still had that pitying smile on his face but she just smiled politely as she always did and ran up to Sasuke's room. When she peaked in she found Sasuke asleep on his bed, a crumpled and ragged letter by his head. She found herself pacing around the room quietly, retracing every moment in her mind that she ever spent with him. Then she walked over to the bed to sit by her boyfriend. He seemed even more stressed than usual, which made her curious to see what the letter was about. She immediately regretted ever seeing the piece of paper and by the end of the letter she was in tears. Everything made sense finally, from the reason he transferred all the way to the pitying looks she received from Kakashi. For the first time, she felt like hurting Sasuke more than he had ever hurt her by his silence and harsh words. She prodded him awake.

It took several moments for Sasuke to be aware of his surroundings and once he saw that Sakura held the letter in his hands he blanched. "Give me that," He nearly snarled. If she hadn't been so angry, hurt, and a whole lot of other emotions that she couldn't even define, she would have winced at his harsh tone.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sakura nearly sobbed in desperation.

"Sakura, give it to me now." Sasuke demanded and extended his hand to reach for the letter.

Sakura shot off the bed, tears still falling. "No. You _used_ me. I deserve an answer!"

"You wouldn't have-"

"I would have understood that you're _gay_!" She nearly screamed. This left a stale silence in the air.

The faint rumbling of a school bus passed through Sasuke's house as he collapsed on the couch with a box of tissues. The fight with Neji and the amount of stress had left him feeling ill and achy. His weekend was over fast and the right side of his face was lit up with a bruise along his cheek bone. Ino and Shikamaru had convinced him to call off from work for the next three days. Naruto finally left, which he couldn't deny that he was rather relieved that he didn't have to wonder when the next time the obnoxious man would push his way into his life again would be. Except now when he turned on the news and other channels, the only thing he could find on were interviews of Naruto.

The house was extremely quiet with both of Sasuke's daughters gone to school that Monday morning. It was rather unusual, being so idle, at least to Sasuke who was usually busy with work and taking care of two kids. He turned on the television to provide some noise in the house while he ran outside to pick up the newspaper. When he'd go back to work in three days, he'd need a babysitter. With Ino's wedding approaching, she was getting busier and busier as she spent more time away at her parents' house. Asking Sakura for help was out of the question at the moment; Aya had already seen her mother and has been interrogating her father relentlessly.

For years he put up a barrier to keep Sakura out of his family at least as long as he was able to. Of course, Sasuke never lied and said their mom was dead or they didn't have one. The two daughters knew their mom was alive, they just didn't quite understand why she left. Aya and Kikue never seemed to be interested in their family and origins. They always seemed satisfied with the small three-person family they were limited to. Now Aya demanded to see pictures of her grandparents, and she wanted to know where they were.

That story wouldn't be so easy to tell and Sasuke was very reluctant to even consider telling her. As he sat there on the couch, surrounded by tissues, he remembered the boxes of photos, letters, and other various remnants of his family that hid in the attic. His stomach rumbled and his mind swirled as he pulled down the attic steps from the ceiling. The musky scent filled his senses as he sat down in front of a rather beat-up box. He found his hands ripping open the tape as if he couldn't control his own body. Suddenly the pictures, police reports, baby books, letters, belongings, and everything else he refused to look at for 13 years flooded his vision.

Pictures swept across his mind until when he closed his eyes, his dead family was all that he saw. As he searched through more and more of the box the heavier his eyelids felt, the hotter his body felt, and the deep aching of his cheek increased. He carried the box down to his bed, his body feeling weak with exhaustion and then collapsed into the mattress. A phone ringing distantly met his ears, but it was ignored as Sasuke just let himself doze off to sleep.

Dreams haunted him with his past. Dead bodies floated his mind, his father's disapproving scowl tore at him from every corner, a tear splattered letter was being clenched in a teen-aged girl's hand who appeared to be screaming at him, every insecurity and past horror flooded back and broke the dam he had so carefully built up. His eyes flashed open at once, with the image of Itachi in his mind. Half-expecting to see his brother standing at his bedside, Sasuke quickly searched around. There was no Itachi, but there was a blond haired man sitting on his bed who looked quite startled.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Naruto?" Sasuke groaned. His body felt extremely stiff and sweaty. The pictures were still tossed around him carelessly and the box had fallen off the bed and thrown its contents all over the floor.

Naruto seemed hesitant to even answer, he knew Sasuke was sick and his temper would probably rise even if he had a good excuse to be sitting on his bed. "Uh, Shikamaru told me you were sick. I came over to see if you were okay and I brought you soup!"

Apparently this explanation didn't satisfy Sasuke, whose face contorted into a glare. "How'd you get in here? Just because you are famous, doesn't mean you can just break into my house. I should kick your ass for that."

"Oh, no no no. I didn't break in. You see, I drove over and when I was ringing the doorbell this guy parked out front and let me in." Naruto explained, Sasuke could tell the blond was trying to hold back a grin. He still had no idea what the idiot was talking about, and the pounding headache was not helping.

"Who the hell let you in my house?" Sasuke growled, there was absolutely no one else that had a key to his house.

"This guy with silver hair, he told me he was your father?"

"Shit." Sasuke cursed and got off the bed. He adjusted his lounge pants to make sure they wouldn't fall down before walking to the kitchen. "Where is he?" He called out to Naruto.

"He said he had to meet with some old friends and told me to tell you to call him when you're awake."

As Sasuke put the coffee pot on, realization dawned on him. "Aren't you supposed to be gone, moron?"

The celebrity suddenly appeared in the kitchen again and suddenly Sasuke actually could take in the other's appearance. Naruto was rather dressed up, currently wearing slacks and a button-up collared shirt. He would have looked nice if it weren't for the giant stain on his stomach.

Naruto pouted childishly, "Bastard, I know what you're thinking. It's from making your soup this morning; I spilled it while I was taking it to the car," at this he gestured to his shirt, "anyways! Well, before I left Saturday, Ino and Shikamaru asked me to come back for their wedding. Well, we talked about it and I thought it would be better if I just stayed here until after the wedding."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke motioned for the blond to take a seat at the kitchen table. "I'm going to call Kakashi quick." He swore when he saw Kakashi next, he was quite possibly going to explode. The phone rang twice before his adoptive father answered, "Kakashi?"

"_Yo, Sasuke. I'm out to lunch right now, I'll drop by a little later when the girls are home. For now, just have fun with your boyfriend. Bye!" _The 'conversation' happened so fast Sasuke didn't have a chance to even say anything. With a curse he slammed the phone down into the receiver.

"That was fast," Naruto observed which only received a glare from Sasuke. "Do you need any help? You look awful."

"No, I don't." Sasuke grunted as he searched through the cupboards for a clean mug. "Do you want coffee?" He was reluctant to even ask, God only knows how much coffee the idiot drinks.

Naruto thought about it, taking into consideration that Sasuke would probably think about poisoning him, "Uh, sure. If you don't mind."

It was awkward at first, sitting at the table sipping their coffee in silence. Surprisingly enough, curiousness got the better of Sasuke, "Where are you staying?" The blond's face seemed to light up at the question and he squirmed a bit.

"Oh, Sakura found a really nice apartment. Cheap, you know? And well, it has a second room for her baby, but I'm going to stay there for awhile and I'll pay her rent." Sasuke could tell Naruto was extremely curious and uneasy about the fight on Friday as he brought up Sakura. However, if Naruto expected Sasuke just to open up and explain it all, he would be crazy.

A while later a buzzing sound came from down the hall signalling that the laundry was finished. "Do you want help with that?" Naruto asked, seeing how Sasuke got up weakly.

At the offer of help, Sasuke sped up and shot a "no," at Naruto. However, the blond was feeling exceptionally stubborn that day and followed the father into the laundry room. "I said _no_, idiot," Sasuke growled defensively as Naruto appeared beside him in the room.

"Come on, Sasuke. Clearly, you need help. You can barely breathe," Naruto insisted. This just made Sasuke grumpier.

"You probably have never done an ounce of laundry in your life. I'm sure you have servants that do everything for you," Sasuke retorted. By now he had an armful of clothes and dumped them in a laundry basket. He expected the blond-haired man to get offended or irritated; he did not expect him to laugh.

Naruto's face split into a grin and followed Sasuke back out to the living room, occasionally bending over to grab clothing that spilled out of the basket the other man was holding. "What time period are _you_ living in Sasuke? I may be 'rich' but I do not have servants, unless of course you would like that job." This resulted in several clothes being whipped at his face.

The two spent the next half hour folding laundry and watching the news on television. Their conversations usually led into small arguments that would escalate into insults and the occasional blow to the back of the head. After awhile the phone rang and Sasuke leaned over the arm of the couch to grab the phone. "Hello?"

"_Hello, this is the prinicipal of Konoha Junior High, Sarutobi. Is this the father of Amaya Uchiha?"_ A grumpy sounding man answered into the phone.

"Yes." Sasuke answered, wondering what this could be about. Amaya had always been a good student and hardly ever got in trouble at school.

"_Are you able to come in to the school for a meeting? I am sorry for the late notice, but Amaya is in need of disciplinary actions beyond the school's authority. I am unable to disclose further information over the phone, but I will explain further once you come in."_ The voice now seemed more tired and anxious than it did grumpy.

"I'll be there as soon as possible," Sasuke replied after a moment of confusion. After he hung up the phone, he sat there for a few seconds. Naruto looked at him curiously but too afraid to ask what was up. "I have to go down to Aya's school. You should go, Naruto."

"Oh. Let me give you a ride there. You are way too sick to drive, Sasuke." Naruto demanded. Sasuke just shook his head and hurried into the bedroom to change his clothes.

As Sasuke pulled a sweater over his head his eyes caught a glimpse of an old-looking piece of paper lying on the floor next to the other contents of the box that he didn't bother picking up. When he picked up the folded paper, he instantly regretted it as he read the contents. Suddenly, he felt nearly five times as sick as he was just seconds ago. It felt like every muscle in his body stiffened and all his sense heightened to what was around him. It took all his strength to drag himself into the bathroom before he vomited.

Naruto walked into the bathroom as Sasuke leaned over the toilet. "Uh, maybe you shouldn't go in, Sasuke…" However, Sasuke didn't listen to him, after he was sure that the wave of illness was over he flushed the toilet and rinsed out his mouth.

"I have to. Something happened to Aya, I think." He muttered, his head pounding like crazy. He tried to get past Naruto but he was stopped when the blond grabbed his hand.

"At least let me drive you there, you look awful!" Naruto insisted. Sasuke glared steadily. He really did not want to accept help, especially not from this idiot.

"Fine," Sasuke finally gave in and followed Naruto out to his expensive car. It seemed like an eternity passed before they actually got to the school. "You can come in and wait." The Uchiha offered. The blond gladly accepted, he wasn't very keen on the idea of sitting in the car idle.

A bell rang as soon as they entered the building and a flood of students swept through the hallway. The two adults slipped through the office doors and then herded into another waiting room. There was a skinny yet extremely tall, for a junior high student, boy sitting in one of the chairs by the corner playing with the sleeves of his hoody. Naruto smiled sheepishly and took a seat next to the boy while Sasuke walked to the door labeled 'Sarutobi' and knocked.

As Sasuke stepped through the door he heard Naruto striking up a conversation with the tall boy and had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes; that idiot would _never_ shut up. When he took a seat next to Aya, she refused to make eye contact with him. The pink haired teen fidgeted with anything she could get her hands on and her feet were tapping the ground rapidly. There was an awkward silence before Sarutobi's frustrated voice filled the gap.

"Last night a student of this school attempted suicide. He is all right though and in the hospital. We are doing everything we can to insure that if he returns to school, he is returning to a place and environment that can assure his comfort and safety. That is why you are here. It has come to my attention that Amaya has played a part in harassing this boy based on his sexual orientation." Sarutobi paused for several moments to allow this to sink in.

Sasuke severely wished at that moment that Sakura was sitting in his chair instead of him. Thoughts were scattered and flickering through his mind and he couldn't quite seem to grasp any of them. He heard the taunting words of 'faggot' playing in his mind and the vision of the teen-aged Sakura crying with the wrinkled note in her hand. Suddenly, he couldn't even bring himself to look at his daughter. His eyes fluttered around the room, trying to focus on any one thing. Any moment now, he swore, he would get sick again.

The principal coughed into his hand before continuing, "However, Amaya wasn't the only one harassing him but her participation helped escalate the boy's depression. The punishment for such a predicament as this is out of our hands. We will do what we think is necessary but we are looking to you for additional punishment. I think it's best if you take her home for now."

For the rest of the meeting, buzzing filled Sasuke's ears. When Sarutobi's speech was wrapping up, Sasuke searched for anything to keep himself steady enough to walk out of the building with composure. Amaya briskly walked out to the waiting room and instantly ran into Naruto. When Sasuke walked out he saw his profusely blushing daughter running down the hall. The blond just looked baffled yet concerned.

Sasuke couldn't form any words until the three of them were situated in the car. "Explain." It was the only thing that would come out of his mouth but yet it was the only thing he did not want to hear. Aya refused to speak. "I am not going to ask again, Aya. You are already in trouble as it is."

A sneer slid onto Aya's face. "Maybe I would answer if _you_ explained to _me_ why my mom left."

"That is irrelevant, Amaya." Sasuke growled. His throat burned with the effort of not choking on his words. Naruto concentrated on the road and tried to ignore the awkward situation he was in.

Amaya slid so close to the door that it seemed like she would slip out and for a moment she looked scared at the expression in her father's eyes as he turned around and stared at her expectantly. Without a second thought she began to spurt out words carelessly, "Whatever. Maybe if you weren't a faggot I would still have a mom." She immediately regretted this and covered her mouth.

Sasuke turned around in his seat, not before narrowing his eyes at his child. His whole body went rigid and five minutes later they were at the house. Naruto was unsure of what to do next, should he stay and help or should he leave? He decided to take the last option and when Sasuke and Amaya got out of the car, he drove off.

The door banged open and Sasuke walked briskly in. "Amaya sit at the table and don't move," The father barked. Amaya knew better than to disobey and quickly sat in her seat. A moment later a dictionary fell onto the table. "Look it up."

"What?" Amaya asked in disbelief.

"Look up the word faggot in the dictionary."

A deep frown replaced the anxiety on Amaya's face and she roughly flipped through the pages until she got to the right letter. "Now read it, _out loud_."

"A bundle of sticks, twigs, or branches bound together and used as fuel," Aya recited, clueless as to where this was going.

"Am I a bundle of sticks?" Sasuke asked, his voice raspy and his forehead sweating.

Amaya stared for a couple of moments at her father, pondering whether he'd lost his mind. "No."

"Is that boy you harassed so much that it made him want to kill himself a bundle of sticks?"

"No…" Amaya responded, her voice softer. She shifted her gaze away from her father's eyes, ashamed.

"I can't believe you would have let this ignorance and stupidity block your judgment, Amaya. Now go to your room until I tell you to come out," Sasuke ordered.

Without a glance back, Amaya followed her father's orders and walked quickly up the stairs. Sasuke sighed and collapsed on the couch. His mind buzzed from all the jumbled thoughts and the flashbacks of his past.

Just as soon as he was dozing off, a dog's bark and a car door slamming woke him from his stupor. Sasuke cursed under his breath and gingerly stood up to see who was there. The doorbell rang when he was just three feet from the door and he could see a bush of gray hair from the window. "Yo, Sasuke." The fake-cheery voice called as Sasuke opened the door.

"Kakashi, why did you bring Pakkun?" Sasuke asked as he stared at the small pug-like dog. There was something strange about the dog that bothered Sasuke but he couldn't quite explain what it was.

"Ah, you see…I heard you were sick and Sakura was around so I decided to drop by for a while to help. Naturally, I can't leave Pakkun alone in my house." Kakashi said nonchalantly as if this wouldn't be a problem at all. The older man sidestepped his ward and walked into the kitchen with the dog behind him. "So where's that blond boy from earlier?"

"He went home." Sasuke didn't elaborate; it really wasn't any of Kakashi's business in the first place. "Kikue should be home in half an hour," Sasuke offered, trying to change the subject. Their conversation was cut short by a cough from the doorway.

When Sasuke looked over at her he was startled. It wasn't her determined and angry face that surprised him, it was the letter grasped in her hand. He felt like all his air supply was cut off and the stubborn face she was making contorted her face. No longer did Sasuke see the predominantly familiar looks of Sakura, but he saw the boney and surly face of his brother, Itachi. He was speechless and for once he didn't want to confront or sooth his daughter's confusion like a 'good father', he just wanted to disappear and leave forever and that's what he decided to do.

**A/N: Let me know what you think! Thank you for reading and reviewing! =D**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, I really apologize for the ridiculous wait. I am back though and ready to update more often. I have the next chapter pretty much finished, just need to add some finishing details.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Warning: Uh, this chapter has yet to be looked through by my beta. So until I hear back from her, excuse any mistakes that I have made haha.**

**Ooh, the beginning of this is a flashback. The italics is Sasuke remembering something that was said to him in the past…Confusing? Yeah, sorry haha.

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Kicking Boxes

Chapter 5

Eichi had always smiled warmly at Sasuke, as if he was offering him the world. The confidence had always pissed him off, it wasn't his business to decide he could help Sasuke. The past year he put up with the boy following him around and being 'nice' to him when all he wanted was to be alone. However, he couldn't bring himself to put these feelings out in the open and shoot down the boy's hopes and this ultimately led to a confession.

Sasuke had just been suspended for starting a fight in his history class again and was walking out of the building where his foster dad waited when a scream burst into the air. "Sasuke! Wait!" Out of curiosity, the brunet stopped and turned around. Eichi, with his rusty colored hair waving in the wind, ran toward him. "W-why did you do that to Kiba?" The boy panted.

"Fuck off," Sasuke snarled and turned away.

A hand caught the back of Sasuke's shirt, "No, what is wrong with you?" the boy gasped, still recovering from the run. Sasuke just turned and smirked at him. "Don't look at me like that. I don't need you to fight for me!" This caused an eruption of laughs from Sasuke and Eichi stepped back.

"That was merely a whim, a reason _to_ fight. There was no underlying meaning or intention, you just happened to read too deeply into it," Sasuke chuckled and untwined the hand from his shirt much more gently than Eichi expected. The confusion in Eichi's eyes turned to pity which infuriated Sasuke. He clenched his fists. "How dare you feel sorry for me," he growled.

Eichi stepped back but his hand was caught by the enraged Uchiha, "The first day I met you, you had no friends and I let you follow me around like some duckling. I paid for your meal when you gave that asshole Kiba your lunch money. I don't remember the last time you did anything correctly and you think you have the right to pity _me_? You're pathetic."

The usually bright green eyes dulled and the pale face flushed in shame. "Stop," Eichi whispered, trying to control his emotions. A smirk danced across Sasuke's face in triumph but he did not obey Eichi's wish.

"No matter how I treat you, you always come crawling back to me. Do you know why, Eichi?" Sasuke whispered into the smaller teen's ear.

With a small hitch of breath, Eichi tried to walk away but Sasuke used his right leg to angle between the other boy's and Eichi fell to the ground gracelessly. It was almost satisfying, to Sasuke, to see the look of fear in the green eyes as they stared up at him. "It's because you're weak, Eichi. You're too dependent on other people. That's called weakness," Sasuke growled as he knelt beside the boy.

Finally, Eichi snapped and yelled back, "No! That's not it."

Another malicious laugh cut through the air, "Then why?" Sasuke asked, still kneeling beside the boy, though his cockiness wavered when he saw the resolve rushing to Eichi's face.

"Because, I love you," Eichi choked. Deep black eyes widened with a start and the Uchiha tried to retreat but his arm was caught by a determined grip and pulled back. Suddenly, lips were on top of his. Blood rushed to Sasuke's face and he roughly pushed Eichi off of him. His mouth opened to say something but no words would even form. Instead, he turned around and stormed off to Orochimaru's truck.

"Who was that boy?" Orochimaru asked. His voice was laced with a mixture of curiosity and loathing.

"No one, I don't know who he is." Sasuke lied and sunk deeper into his seat, trying to fight the warmth that threatened to spread to his face under his guardian's piercing gaze.

The man chuckled and started the truck, "I'm sure."

For a while after that, Eichi was too afraid to even approach Sasuke. Surprisingly enough, he didn't need to. A month and a half later, while Eichi was sitting cross-legged on a bench just outside of the school building, Sasuke quietly sat next to him. At first, they just sat there in awkward silence not even looking at each other but then Eichi scooted closer tentatively.

"I'm sorry…" The apology was so quiet and raspy that Eichi nearly thought it was just a breeze going by. Sasuke's head was bowed so that his hair curtained his face. There shouldn't have been a trace of pity in Eichi, not for the way he was treated, but watching the clenched knuckles of the other's hand whiten and the way his shoulders subtly shook; he couldn't help it.

Gently, Eichi squeezed Sasuke's shoulder, "I know," he said, equally as soft. Then suddenly, Sasuke found himself, inevitably, in the arms of the other his head tucked under Eichi's completely unaware how this would ruin that one boy's life.

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When Sasuke woke up he felt extremely drowsy and his head ached. Yet, there was something warm and heavy lying against his stomach. He looked down and saw a tuft of blond hair belonging to Naruto, who was sleeping nearly on top of the futon which he currently laid in. Carefully, Sasuke rolled the blond off of him and was surprised to note that he was still asleep. Trying to gather his surroundings, he found himself in a pair of black plaid lounge pants and an orange hoody…What a hideous combination.

The room seemed awfully familiar but the lack of any furniture in the room and no distinct characteristics made it impossible to tell where he was. A smell of some sort of strong tea filled his senses so he followed the scent. As he left the room he realized where he was when he got into the open corridor; he was in the Uchiha Manor.

The scent brought him into the kitchenette that was across the hall, standing at the stove was Sakura. Not who he had expected, to say the least. "Sakura?" Sasuke groaned sleepily, still feeling as if he got hit in the head with something heavy. The pink haired woman looked startled and nervous when she turned around to look at him, as if she was afraid.

"Oh, S-Sasuke. How are you feeling?" Sakura asked, worry now replacing her fright. Sasuke just shrugged and she motioned him to sit in a familiar wooden chair. A cup of tea was placed in front of him and she quickly sat at the other side of the table.

"What are we doing here?" Sasuke asked curiously, trying to remember where he last was. As far as he knew, the Uchiha district has been closed off to the public ever since that night, he'd only returned to his home a few times since he was taken away.

Sakura drew in a breath and stared at him, contemplating on the situation before she carefully spoke, "Shikamaru called me, he said you ran away. I remember when we were younger you used to come here…At least that one time you ran off to here, so Naruto and I came and found you lying on the dock." Sasuke remained silent and awkwardly sipped his cup of tea, unsure of what to say. "Don't worry, Kakashi's with your girls though."

"Ino's really pissed," Sakura continued, a hint of a smile dancing in her eyes. He snorted and rolled his eyes, not surprised. There was a moment more of silence before she continued, "Naruto was having a heart attack earlier, you know? I mean, he didn't let me know what was wrong at first, he just left. But then Shika called me and I could hear him yelling at Ino in the background."

Sasuke sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, "That moron…"

Sakura somewhat grinned, "Yeah but Naruto's quite the catch, isn't he?"

Sasuke looked up, startled, "Not really. Why don't you go for him, he seems your type," He snapped.

"No way, he only has eyes for you, Sasuke." Sakura laughed at the scandalized face Sasuke made, "I'm serious. He's made that clear." Sasuke just shook his head and rolled his eyes. "But, honestly, I bet your girls _adore_ him. He's so sweet even though he's not very tactful…or graceful and more than a little bit annoying. He's good for you though," Instead of pressing the matter like she would have a long time ago, she let silence fill the air until she couldn't take it any longer.

Sakura hesitantly tapped the table before digging into her jeans pocket and pulling out a familiar crumpled paper. "Naruto saw the letter," Was all that came out when she slid the letter across the table. Sasuke's eyes widened for a brief second before he composed himself and grabbed the letter quickly. "Amaya was apparently really upset…Uh, well, that's what Naruto said. I didn't-couldn't see her, of course."

Sasuke grasped the sides of his head as a headache took over. "Fuck, how did this happen?" He groaned. A soft hand tentatively ran through his hair soothingly, he nearly jumped at the unexpected contact.

"Sasuke, nobody blames you."

"They do…They should," His voice was extremely quiet. Memories that were pushed into the depths of his mind were coming back; years' work of trying to forget them was crumbling away.

_Deep down, Sasuke, you know that if it weren't for you, he'd still be alive._ The voice still hissed in his ear.

Sakura sighed and fiddled with her tea cup, "Sasuke, have you spoken with Eichi's parents? Other than the day they delivered the letter."

"I can't." He sunk back into his chair, as if to hide.

Sasuke could remember the silly lopsided smile the boy constantly shot his way, the pull of his hands, the texture of his hair running through his fingers, but in an instant all those wonderful things about him were gone. "He…killed himself because of me. I should have…"

"Don't say it!" Sakura hissed, "There is no way Eichi would be happy to hear you say that."

"You didn't know him."

"He _loved_ you."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too." Sasuke huffed.

Sakura shook her head and sighed, giving up. "Do you mind if I try to use the shower, Sasuke?" He gave her a hesitant look and shrugged his shoulders, he didn't really care. "Thanks. Eh, the water is probably cold. Have you kept up this house at all?" Again, Sasuke shrugged and stared off into space.

When Sakura left the room, Sasuke stood and grabbed his cup of tea. He wandered around the house until he came across the veranda that overlooked a small abandoned garden with a pond. The pond was invaded by algae and the vegetation of the garden had overgrown. Nevertheless, he sat in the cold air watching the slow patter of rain hitting the ground.

After 10 minutes of just sitting there, Sasuke retreated even deeper into the unfamiliar orange hoody he was wearing, he couldn't help but note that it smelled like Naruto. He could hear thumping coming from inside and an incoherent voice screaming through the house. Suddenly, the sliding door burst open with a bang and Naruto tumbled gracelessly, as usual, through the doorway and landed on his ass. "Sasuke!" The blond yelled and scrambled toward the brunet. As Sasuke looked to his left, he didn't see Naruto's usual goofy face but a fist coming right for his nose.

"What the hell, you idiot?" Sasuke yelled and quickly caught the fist with his hand and staggered. The blond didn't answer but caught him off guard again with a punch to the left. It connected, hard. "Shit, Naruto what-" He tried again but Naruto tackled him to the ground, pinning his hands to his sides with his knees.

"You fucking bastard!" Naruto growled. Sasuke looked up into the other's face. The blue eyes were swimming with tears, he assumed from anger. "You're the worst! Leaving your daughters without saying anything. Amaya was worried and crying! She thought you weren't coming back!" Naruto's voice broke as he got more emotional.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously, still underneath the taller man, "How could you possibly know _anything_ about my family? Huh?" Sasuke nearly screamed and with a twist of his hips he threw his weight into the blond on top of him and succeeded, only barely, to roll him off.

"I know that just because you blame yourself for something that was _not_ even your fault is not a good enough reason to leave your daughters!" Naruto yelled back, now kneeling down with his fists clenched at his sides.

Sasuke laughed mockingly, "Yeah, because your fancy lifestyle taught you a lot about dealing with pain." This time he anticipated the punch and dodged it to reciprocate his own. To his disappointment, Naruto just winced and then caught him by the collar.

"You think I got this life because of a whim? That my parents were rich and spoiled me and that's how I got to where I am?" Naruto growled, his breath blowing against Sasuke's face. "Well, fuck you. If you think I'm going to compare scars and count whose is bigger, _you're_ the moron. I don't feel bad for you at all."

On that note, the two were on the ground sending punches. From inside, Sakura could hear Naruto's familiar shrieks and rolled her eyes. She buttoned up her blouse and tightened her bun before hurrying her way to the veranda. When she stepped out she saw both Naruto and Sasuke rolling around on the ground, along the way they rolled off the veranda into the soggy grass. Sakura could feel her anger boiling, yet she wasn't surprised.

Kicking off her shoes, Sakura leaned out of the veranda. "Naruto, Sasuke! What the hell do you think you're doing?" She screeched. By now the rain had subsided into a small drizzle but the grass had soaked the two men's clothes through and any exposed skin was caked with a mixture of dirt and blood.

"But Sakura you said to-" Naruto tried to explain but was interrupted by a pinch directly aimed for a newly formed bruise on his cheek.

"I said to _talk_ to him, not to beat the shit out of him, idiot!" Sakura's voice shrilled again, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Sasuke sat up cautiously, staring at the two, and tried to wipe the mud out of his hair. Sakura went on lecturing Naruto and seemed to have forgotten about Sasuke. Naruto helplessly sat there and glanced at Sasuke as if he would take mercy on him to help, of course all he got was a cocky smirk…Except that smirk wasn't unnoticed.

"And _you._" Sakura hissed, "Don't you think we've already went through enough trouble for you? You guys are a _wreck_."

Sasuke snorted at the last comment and Naruto couldn't hide his oncoming grin. If possible, this made Sakura even more pissed, "What?" she snapped.

"Have you looked in the mirror?" Sasuke asked, referring to her now disheveled hair and the bruises lining her face, Naruto just gaped at him. Sakura's face was beet red and she looked like she was going to explode. In a panic, Naruto grabbed a handful of mud that was unearthed during their fight and hurled it at Sakura, it was a direct hit. "Moron," Sasuke hissed from beside him.

Sakura stood there stunned and looked down at her soiled white top, "I'm going to _kill_ you, Naruto!" Suddenly, she dug her fingers in the earth and flung it straight at Naruto. Seeing Naruto's shocked and disgusted mud-covered face made her forget about all her anger and couldn't help but laugh. Naruto just laughed nervously before noticing how Sakura grew quiet and just as Naruto thought they were calmed down, her shoulders started to shake. "S-sakura?" He called, reaching for her shoulder. His hand was caught by Sakura's and her body folded.

"I'm so sorry," the pink haired girl cried, her free hand shot out and grabbed hold of Sasuke's muddy hoody. Her voice repeated those words over and over again, the Uchiha just looked down at the woman awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Naruto nudged the other man as if to prod him to say something.

Instead, Sasuke grabbed Sakura's clinging hand and uncurled it from his shirt. Without any warning at all he disappeared into the house. Naruto sighed, "That bastard…" Sakura's crying didn't relent and neither did her grip. "Sakura, are you okay?"

The pink haired woman went to wipe her eyes but stopped when she remembered how muddy her hands were, her sobs stopped and she was left slumped over with only the occasional tears falling from her eyes. "I'm fine; just…I'm so messed up right now. I can't help anyone, especially Sasuke. I've done so many awful things."

Before Naruto could try to console her, Sasuke was back with an armful of towels and a warm washcloth in one hand. Without a word, he offered the wet washcloth to Sakura. As Sakura wiped her tear-streaked face with the cloth, Sasuke turned to Naruto. The blond smiled nervously, now feeling the sting of his split lip and the ache of his bruises. "U-uh, I'm sorry. I overreacted, a little," Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke just shrugged and walked away to plug in the hose before turning the water on. "Naruto, turn here." And Naruto did turn but to his surprise water was squirted into his face.

"What the-" Naruto nearly doubled over while trying to guard his face, "What was that for?"

"We're not treading mud all through the house. We'll use the hose to get most of the mud off our skin. Hence, the towels," Sasuke gestured towards the towels he left on the veranda, as if he did not just spray Naruto in the face with the hose.

Half an hour later all three of them were clean and dried by a fire in the living room of the manor. To Sakura's surprise, other than the bedroom Naruto and Sasuke were in, the house was still fully furnished. Despite this fact, the three of them were sitting on the floor covering themselves up with blankets. "Sakura, what time is it?" Naruto groaned as he curled up on the ground by Sasuke's feet, who 'accidentally' nudged Naruto with his foot harshly.

"Eh, 8 o'clock," Sakura replied, looking down at her cell phone. "Whoops, I have a missed call. I'll be right back," She said and hurried out of the room.

"Seriously, I thought you really were dead when I found you sprawled out on the dock like that. Are you trying to kill yourself?" Sasuke didn't grace the moron with an answer, but he did look up at him.

_He only has eyes for you._

"Are you all right, Sasuke?"

_Sasuke, are you feeling okay?_

"Sasuke? I think you still have a fever, maybe you should go lay back down."

_Sasuke, let's go see that new movie, I'll pay for yours!_

"Are you even listening to me, bastard?"

_Sasuke, why won't you meet my parents? They'll love you!_

"You're trying to make me worry, aren't you? Rotten bastard-asshole!" Naruto strung together.

_Sasuke, I really do love you, y'know?_

Naruto moved his hand to nudge Sasuke's shoulder but it was caught in a tight grip. Then a second hand grasped the back of his neck and pulled him upwards. Their lips met and Naruto struggled on instinct. It was rough and Naruto's eyes were locked onto Sasuke's face, his shoulders remaining tense, he felt hesitant to respond to the kiss whether to pull back or if that would bring his demise closer. Teeth bit into his lower lip and fingers pulled his blond hair.

Despite Naruto's discomfort, Sasuke's eyes remained closed which worried Naruto even more. Finally, the blond did the only thing that came to mind, and shoved him off. Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes snapped open, "Eichi-"his voice cut off after he found Naruto's narrowed blue eyes and not deep green. "Fuck," Sasuke grumbled, surprising Naruto that he didn't punch him and just sat upright.

After that, the two didn't say anything but they didn't move either. Naruto sat with his knees to his chest, while Sasuke just sat there with his eyes closed. Finally, Naruto shrieked, "Bastard! You kissed me! You're sick and you _kissed_ me. You_ are _trying to kill me! I should punch you again." He wasn't sure if he was really angry or if he was just panicky.

"Whatever," Sasuke growled, trying to ignore the other's existence.

"You suck at kissing, by the way!" Naruto taunted, now staring right at Sasuke. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

"Oh and I bet the women are just lining up to get a piece of _you,_" Sasuke retorted.

Naruto snickered and leaned over to Sasuke, "Yeah but the _men_ are too." Sasuke's face flushed and shoved Naruto away from him.

"You are a moron."

"You kissed this moron, so what are you?"

"I was clearly delusional," Sasuke muttered batting away the hand that was trying to play with his hair. "Get away, I wasn't thinking."

_I wasn't thinking about you_. Was the words that weren't said, but Naruto heard them anyways. "Ne, Sasuke, who is Eichi?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke sighed and went back to his original position. "Don't act stupid, Naruto. You read the letter and Sakura probably told you about him."

Naruto blushed but shook his head, "No, I did read the letter but Sakura told me it was your story to tell…And yelled at me for prying."

"There's nothing to say. We were…friends," At this, Naruto stared at him skeptically which Sasuke made a point of ignoring and continued, "we got into a fight and the next day he…well he died."

"Oh." Naruto said, unsure if the other was actually telling the truth. He decided not to push his luck. "He must have really loved you though, based on that letter," He smiled weakly and excused himself to the restroom.

Sakura popped into the room next, as if right on cue. "Sasuke, we need to head home. Can you grab Naruto and our stuff?" It was more of a command than it was a request though as she hastily went back to the kitchenette.

Naruto parked his car outside of Sasuke's house, Sakura seemed worried about something and remained quiet the whole entire ride over. "Sasuke, don't do anything stupid, okay?" Sakura called through the window as Sasuke got out of the car.

The house was silent, which didn't bother Sasuke since he was just going to sleep anyhow. To his surprise though, Kakashi sat with a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. "Oh, good morning, Sasuke," The grey haired man smiled cheerily but when Sasuke just stared at him suspiciously, his smile dropped. "Look, I'm not going to interrogate you…Not yet. Right now, you have something bigger to sort out," Kakashi handed Sasuke an envelope and watched him unfold the letter inside carefully.

"W-what? I told them not to send me a notice," Sasuke said as he stared at the letter in disbelief.

"Ah, yes. I knew you'd be angry about this so I called in, apparently that's Itachi's last request before he goes," Kakashi shrugged. Sasuke, however, was not so easygoing about this and shredded the letter to pieces. "Ah, you can destroy that letter all you want, but it won't erase it from your mind. You need to go see Itachi, Sasuke."

"And why the hell would I want to do that?" Sasuke nearly yelled, the mere idea got his blood boiling.

"Because, a week from now you'll never have the opportunity again, Sasuke," Kakashi reasoned.

Sasuke collapsed in a seat across from Kakashi and hid his face in one of his hands, "I don't care. I won't see him."

Kakashi chuckled and got up to put his coffee cup in the sink before turning to face his ward, "You and I both know you will, Sasuke."

"And why is that, Kakashi?" Sasuke sneered.

Kakashi faked a smile at Sasuke's unpleasant face and said, "Because in one week, that one person that connects you to your parents is going to be executed."

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Review and let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hellooo. This chapter is not very good but I didn't want to just put in an author's note so I'm just going to go ahead and put this up for you guys to read. I wanted to let you guys know that I'm rewriting this story. I'm sorry, I just want to change some things and make it a little less dramatic. Haha, it's really gotten away from me and I think I need to fine-tune the plot more. It's going to include a lot more of Naruto and a lot less of Sakura's drama (Neji). However, I'm still not sure how I want to do this but it looks like I'm going to have to delete this and start a new story because it's going to be too different to just replace the chapters without confusing everyone… Well enjoy this chapter! The new story will be up soon. Review/PM me with some suggestions, I could use them! Thank you for reading!

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own Naruto.

Kicking Boxes

Chapter 6

If anyone were to ask, Amaya Uchiha would not hesitate to say she loves her family. It was a dysfunctional family at best, she would acknowledge, but that family was _hers_. She was always content with the small blessing she was given: a father, a sister, and the memories of her mother. Well, that is, until Naruto Uzumaki showed up.

Amaya saw the strange bond between her father and that man, and was frightened. Her mother was coming back one day and she was going to find herself kicked out of the family…by a man. Of course, Sasuke couldn't admit his attraction for Naruto to himself, let alone his daughter, but she could tell on her own.

Life was beautiful and perfect when she was little. She had a wonderful mother who held her at night and played games with her. She could still smell the salty air when the three of them went to the beach. Often times she dreamt of her father and mother on each sides of her holding her hands, swinging. They were a happy and sturdy family, or maybe she just wanted to believe that and never realized the turmoil that hid under the surface…

In an instant, things changed. Aya's father got distant and left the home, hours on end. There were nights when it was just her and her mother at the dinner table. Her parents no longer slept in the same bed, instead Sasuke slept curled up on the couch. One night, she found her mother sitting on her bed with her hands cradling her stomach and crying.

Sakura began to look tired all the time and Amaya frowned at the saddened smiles that her mother gave her. Why was father making her this way? Surely her mother, who taught her so many things and loved her so much, didn't deserve to look so depressed. Her mother had given her everything, including her appearance, so she found herself angry and glaring at her father every time he came home.

When Amaya first found out her mother was pregnant, she was devastated. How could anyone even fathom a baby in the midst of this mess? Was it the reason why Sakura was sad all the time and her family was being torn apart in front of her eyes? Some nights she found herself crawling into bed with her mother and pressing her hand against the extended stomach quietly praying that her sibling would revive the tattered family.

Amidst all of the suffering at home, Amaya remembers the stern and cold face of her father the most. One evening he came home and Aya greeted him by shouting at him childishly, but she was only 6 at the time so what could anyone expect? Months went by and Amaya watched as her mother got bigger and bigger. She seemed so depressed but the times when Aya found her mother caressing her stomach, a fond and endearing look took over her mother's face. Did her mother still love her the same way?

When the day came when Amaya's sister would be born, she had butterflies in her stomach. She waited and waited for someone to tell her she was going to go see her sister but nobody did. Not even Ino, her mother's best friend. Sasuke was home but she was too nervous to ask him. Two days later, Sakura was home with the baby.

Sasuke was holding the baby in the living room, trying to get Kikue to go to sleep. Amaya just watched as she sat quietly next to her father. Her sister's eyes were a light lavender color which she didn't find so strange; she was only six after all. She didn't know what to make of her little sister, mostly she was in awe but she was hesitant to approach her. Would this baby be happy with her as a sister?

Despite the chaos around the house, Amaya was still surprised when she found out her parents were getting a divorce let alone Sakura was moving out. It was only two days after Sakura was discharged from the hospital and Amaya was in her room playing with her dolls, trying to ignore the cries of her baby sister. The dress to one of her dolls with long blonde hair got caught on her dresser drawer as she tried to disrobe her and ripped. Aya's eyes welled up; it _had_ been her favorite dress for her doll.

"Mama!" Aya called out, trying to hunt down her mother. She checked the kitchen but instead of her mother, her father sat at the kitchen table cradling Kikue in his arms. "Daddy? Where's mama?" Sasuke looked startled, as if he was confused as to whom that was.

"Oh, she's upstairs I think." Sasuke said, wrapping the blanket tighter around the baby.

Aya reached the bedroom where her mother was. "Mama?" She called from the doorway.

"Come in," Was the shaky reply.

Sakura's back was to her as Aya entered the room but in front of the mother was two suitcases. Her small hands were quickly folding clothes but none of the clothes ended up in their usually neat and wrinkle-free piles, they ended just in a messy lump. "Are we going to the beach?" Amaya asked.

"No, honey…" Sakura sighed, she turned around. Usually Sakura was put together perfectly without a hair out of place. Now, her hair was loose and frizzy, her eyes had dark shadows underneath them. She looked like she was falling apart. The shaking hands gently grabbed her daughter's, "I have to leave." Amaya blinked listlessly up at her mother, not really taking in the words.

"But you'll be back, right?" Amaya tugged on her mother's hands gently. Her mother relinquished her grasp on her one hand and stroked her oldest daughter's cheek.

Sakura hesitated, trying to think of the right thing to say but came up blank. Was there a right thing to say when you were leaving your daughter? No. "I don't know, Amaya. Maybe." Her words were no heavier than a mere breath of air. Aya clenched the hand in her grasp tighter, her whole body shaking lightly. "I'm sorry," Sakura pulled her daughter into her lap; Aya struggled at first but then just hid her head in her mother's shoulders.

A horn beeped from outside and Sakura's cell phone rang loudly from the other side of the room. "Aya, I have to go now. Take care of your father and Kikue, okay?" Sakura smiled and pressed her forehead against her daughter's. Amaya simply nodded. "I love you," with those words, Sakura kissed her daughter goodbye and zipped up her suitcases and clumsily grabbed her cell phone. As she lugged her baggage to the front door, Aya followed quietly behind and watched as her mother disappeared out the front door, from her life.

Even at the age of thirteen, the thing she remembered most was not the way her mother kissed her goodbye, or the way she was pulled into her lap like she was the most important thing in the world; it wasn't even seeing her walk out that door. The most memorable thing about that morning was how her mother walked past both her father and little sister, her eyes averted to the ground the whole way to the door. Without a single 'I love you' to Kikue, not even a glance.

Itachi was held at a high-security prison just outside the city limits. Now, there was only 5 days left until his execution and Sasuke was led to a private room to meet with his brother. The older Uchiha had changed, his face was thinner and his eyes more weary than they had been all those years ago. Prison had changed him in more ways than imaginable; Sasuke found he was unable to look into his brother's eyes as he took a seat in front of the glass that separated them. It was quite clear; Itachi was a dead man.

Despite his planned demise, Itachi's face split into a grin and nodded in greeting to Sasuke, "What a pleasant surprise, Sasuke. I didn't think you'd show."

Sasuke's face remained impassive, "I didn't want to come."

The grin faded, "I see…Well, how's your daughter?"

"I'm not here for just a chat, Itachi," Sasuke muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Why did you want me here?"

Itachi chuckled, "It's so like you, wanting to get to the point even after all these years. Is it so wrong for a man who's on his deathbed to want to talk to his little brother?"

Fed up with his brother beating around the bush, Sasuke got up to leave but was stopped, "I have something you want Sasuke. Something you won't be able to have if I die before you get it." He tensed; he could just feel the smirk on his brother's face. "First, I want to hear about you."

Reluctantly, Sasuke vaguely talked about his life, starting from his marriage to Sakura, with Itachi probing for more details every time he felt Sasuke was leaving something out. It was disconcerting how sincerely interested his older brother was in his personal life and it made him wonder if he was saying too much. As he finished up there was a long pause.

"It appears you have quite the happy family, Sasuke. Well, I assume our time here is almost up so I will get to the point," Itachi smiled at Sasuke's anxious face. "I know what happened to your little boyfriend so many years ago and I know who is to blame."

Sasuke glared suspiciously at Itachi, "Yeah, I know too." This just made Itachi shake his head.

"No, no you don't. The truth is that boy didn't commit suicide. He was murdered, Sasuke." His voice was a low whisper, trying to make sure the guards wouldn't hear but he knew it was only a matter of time before they came in. Sasuke stared at him in disbelief; he wasn't stupid enough to believe the man who murdered his whole family. "Of course you don't believe me. If you want to know the exact truth there _is_ someone who can give it to you, all you have to do is remember a phone number." Itachi proceeded to ramble off a phone number, making sure to repeat it so that his younger brother would remember it. Sasuke was about to ask how there was a connection but the door snapped open and he was escorted out of the building. There weren't any goodbyes, just Itachi's small smile and the two parted ways for the last time.

As soon as he got to his car, Sasuke made sure to write down the number and slip it into his wallet. Sasuke drove the 3 and a half hour ride back home with the number playing through his head but he decided he should let it rest. The inside of his house was warm and smelled sweet as he kicked off his shoes upon entering. Loud pop music was coming from the kitchen and he could hear a voice, unmistakably Kikue's, attempting to sing along with it. As he stepped into the kitchen he saw Amaya, dressed in a brown floral dress and a very serious expression on her face, despite the loud cheery music and her younger sister comically dancing through the rooms. She was concentrating on mixing something in a bowl before she noticed he was there.

"Dad!" She jumped and turned around, looking almost scared.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, thoroughly confused. "And where's Kakashi?"

Aya ran over to the stereo that was put on the kitchen table and turned down the volume, which didn't stop Kikue's singing and dancing. "Oh, Kakashi's downstairs watching TV. I was thinking that I should apologize to Yano and Kakashi suggested I bake him something. So I'm making him those boxed brownies we had in the closet…Is that okay?" Her feet shuffled nervously under the scrutiny of her father.

Sasuke's lips curled into a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, it's a good idea. We'll have to call and see when we can stop over." Amaya's worried face split into a bright smile and she turned back to her brownie mix.

As Kikue whirled into the kitchen, Sasuke bent down to catch her before she got past. She giggled and latched onto her father's shoulders, "Dad! You're home!"

"Yeah, I see that Kakashi is spoiling you as usual, letting you make so much noise." Sasuke set his daughter back down, who just whipped her long hair out of her eyes and grinned mischievously. Between Sasuke's quiet seriousness and Amaya's unwavering passion, he didn't have a clue as to where Kikue's playful and outgoing demeanor came from. When Aya was a child she was strangely pensive but there was always an eerie confidence in everything. Kikue was always wound up, emotionally and physically. On a normal day, Sasuke swears he sees every emotion possible flutter through that girl.

Soon, Kikue lost interest in her dancing around and went downstairs to find Kakashi. Sasuke helped Aya get the brownies into the oven and set a timer. There was an awkward silence afterward in the kitchen and Aya shuffled her feet nervously before clearing her throat, "Dad, I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything I said, honest."

There was a moment where Sasuke just stood there pensively but then he nodded, "I know. I have something to show you." He led the way upstairs into his room where the box laid under his bed. Kneeling down, he scooped the box over and handed it to Aya. "This is filled with…things from your family."

Amaya looked shocked, "C-can I go through this?" Sasuke nodded and gestured her to her room and followed her through. The two dug through the box with Aya occasionally asking who was who in each picture and Sasuke preparing himself for the questions he's been avoiding for such a long time. A particularly old picture surfaced into Aya's hands, even Sasuke was surprised by the picture, "T-this is…" Aya whispered but her voice trailed off in confusion.

In the picture, a ten year-old Sasuke in a suit stood next to Orochimaru outside a huge building in the city. Both were completely expressionless but their appearances were flawless. "That's Kimimaro's dad!" Amaya gasped. "H-how…But you said he wasn't a good person, why were you with him?"

Sasuke took the frail picture into his hands, "He wasn't. They put me into foster care and he was my foster-father."

Amaya was still confused, she dug through the box for more pictures of Sasuke at that age but she couldn't find any. "Then, that's how you met him? Why isn't he a good person?"

"No, I knew him for years before that. My father worked for the government and Orochimaru worked in the same building, as a government research worker. So I met Orochimaru when I was around six at a Christmas party. However, tensions between those two rose as elections came around when I was seven. Both wanted seats in a higher position and would exploit anything they could get their hands on. My father hired people to set Orochimaru up for fraud and...other crimes. He wasn't convicted, but he was stripped of his high rank and had to pay a high fine. Now, every month he has to pass an inspection and a progress-check on his experiments or he'd have to pay another fine and risk getting fired altogether." Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at this; however Aya's expression looked grave.

"Then why doesn't he just quit?"

"My father made sure he wouldn't be able to. The charges that were pressed on him and my father's status, made it impossible for any employer to want to hire him," Sasuke shrugged and put the picture back into the box.

"That's horrible." Amaya whispered, her fingers digging through the box again before pulling a picture of a teenaged Sasuke but something was off. "You look weird in this picture," She held up the picture to her father.

"Ah, that's…Itachi, my brother."

"What happened to him?"

"He's dead," Sasuke lied; well he considered it sort of true at least. Amaya wouldn't buy it though.

"Really? Dad, I've been kept in the dark about my family for so long. Why don't I have grandparents? Where is my mom? Who _are _you?" Amaya's black eyes glistened emotionally, trying to pull the answers from her father. Her whole family was in this box, but there was nothing to tell her who they were or what they did.

Most of Sasuke screamed for him to lie, to just pretend like she never asked. He didn't want to let his daughter know of the tragic legacy she holds on her shoulders. The Uchiha name was soiled and he was sad that Aya had to share it. Despite all these feelings, he felt she needed to understand her history in order for her to lead a different life, so he explained everything only leaving out a few details like Sakura's affair with Neji. Amaya was silent afterward and just sifted through the box looking through the remnants of her family's belongings.

Aya was scavenging through the box until she got a text message from Kimimaro.

'_Can you come to my house tonight?'_

Intrigued at the sudden message she replied with a _'Why?'_ and sent the message, holding her breath. He never really pushed for her to meet him at his house before so it was kind of strange.

_'I need to talk to you. It's important. Come around midnight."_

Amaya stared at the text message, her heart pounding. She never really disobeyed her father's rules but there seemed to be something wrong with Kimimaro and she wanted to know more about Orochimaru. She knew that Kimimaro was poor but she never really wondered why. Despite the guilt, she agreed to the arrangement. The excitement made her too restless to be able to focus on the box so she pushed it under her bed with a foot. Midnight could not come fast enough.

It was 10 o'clock when the last person went to bed. Aya decided to spend the next hour searching in the box for a good picture of her mother. As she searched she came across a picture of a teenaged Sasuke in, what seemed to be, a greenhouse next to another boy with startling green eyes. The two were sitting close together on a bench, one of the green eyed boy's fingers wrapped in one of Sasuke's belt loops. Sasuke was staring at Eichi with his lips curled in a half-smile, while Eichi grinned at the camera he was holding in front of their faces. Flipping the picture over, she recognized the name Eichi printed on the back of it.

After an hour of digging she had found various pictures of her mother. Her favorite was a picture of her mother on graduation day in her school uniform, her hair braided and a baby cradled in her arms. Aya slipped this picture and the picture of Eichi into the pocket of her jeans before sneaking her way downstairs and out the door. It was dark as Amaya huddled in her coat and cut through her backyard to the other side of the neighborhood. She'd always been crept out by being outside at night so she found herself getting progressively faster.

Around halfway there, she saw a person standing on the sidewalk. Her breath hitched as she approached the person but she let out a sigh of relief when she recognized the white hair, "Kimimaro," Aya breathed. However, the boy looked at her with a serious face and shook his head. The last thing she saw was the slight movement of the boy's lips, who she realized now wasn't Kimimaro, but she didn't get to hear what he had to say before she blacked out.


End file.
